Anti-Gadhafi forces are celebrating today, claiming that a Libyan air force pilot killed one of Gadhafi's sons during a kamikaze-style attack on a Libyan army barracks. The government, however, denies the son's death.
According to reports, 27-year-old Khamis Gadhafi, who commands the army's elite 32nd Brigade, died at a hospital after a pilot targeted the barracks instead of following an order to open fire on rebels. The suicide attack purportedly occurred at the Bab al-Azizia barracks in Tripoli.
YNetNews.com reports:
According to the reports, which were denied by the Libyan government, on Saturday a Libyan Air Force pilot deliberately crashed his jet into the Gaddafi family compound.Khamis was rushed to the intensive care unit of a Tripoli hospital, where he reportedly died from his wounds a few hours later, the reports said.
The Algerian newspaper Chorouk, citing a report on the Libyan opposite website Al-Manara, claimed that the pilot was ordered to bomb rebels in the Ajdabiya region. However, the report said, the plane suddenly changed course and headed towards the Bab al-Azizia barracks in the Libyan capital.
Kahmis is the sixth son of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.