Libyan officials say NATO air strikes on the
government-controlled port in Tripoli has caused a humanitarian crisis.
Libyan officials said the airstrikes made it difficult to move supply ships in and out of the
country, but NATO said it fired on ships because they were firing on its vessels, CNN reported Saturday.
NATO warplanes have pounded military targets in Libya since March in an effort to drive
Col. Moammar Gadhafi from nearly 42 years of rule.
Amran al-Forjani, Libya's chief coast guard commandant, said the attacks violate the U.N.
resolution authorizing military strikes to protect civilians. He called the operation a "crazy attack."
NATO confirmed it targeted ships Thursday in Tripoli, Al-Khums and Sirte when it became clear that Gadhafi troops were using naval vessels to attack civilians.
Mike Bracken, NATO's military spokesman, said Gadhafi indiscriminately mined waters in Misurata, slowing the flow of humanitarian aid.
"He was using maritime forces to lay mines. These were legal targets," Bracken said at a briefing in Brussels.