The Libyan government followed up claims that close to 100 civilians had died in the allied air strikes by taking journalists to see signs of damage to civilian properties on Friday.
Anti-Gaddafi protesters run from tear gas fired by Libyan police in the district of Tajoura Photo: AP
By Richard Spencer, Tripoli 5:24PM GMT 25 Mar 2011
Once again, though, as with previous government tours, what officials showed journalists seemed to prove the opposite of what they said.
On the road east of Tripoli, site of a string of military bases in and around the town of Tajoura, high guarded walls hid what had clearly been several nights of allied bombardment. Residential areas nearby seemed unaffected, with some shops open.
A radar base had a plume of smoke rising from it. Visible by the sea was a large administrative building – perhaps a command facility – totally shattered, its concrete beams and roof sunk to the ground.
Further along the road was the most striking sign of the fearsome accuracy of the allied air strikes. The blackened skeleton of a radar dish, about 30 feet high, stood burned out on a hillside surrounded by trees.
The leaves on the trees, even those hanging over the dish, were not even singed.
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