Libyans are claiming a growing number of civilian casualties as NATO continues its airstrikes over the capital, Tripoli and the city of Brega in the operation it says is to protect them and weaken leader Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on rebels.

NATO airstrikes continued in the skies over Tripoli Saturday night. Libyan state TV said they targeted the Bab al-Aziziya military base that includes Gaddafi's residence.

A NATO official in Naples said that warplanes targeted a military command and control site and NATO is aware of reports of civilian deaths in an attack on Brega, but they cannot independently verify it.

A Libyan government spokesman says the men killed early Friday were clerics who met in the port town of Brega to pray for peace.

He and other government officials say 11 were killed. He said another 50 people were wounded, including five who are in a critical condition.

However, another witness gave a different account, saying only nine were killed.

He said they were a group of 16 men sent by the country's Islamic affairs department to Brega to demonstrate that the port city was firmly in the hands of Gaddafi's forces, as an act of defiance.

Government officials haven't responded to the discrepancy.

The Brussels-based alliance took over command of the air campaign from the US on March 31 with a mandate to protect civilians from government attacks.

It repeatedly has said that all its targets in Libya are military and that it is not targeting Gaddafi or other individuals.

Reports say Gaddafi's regime has appeared in some cases to gather civilians - or at least not stop them from gathering - at military sites that are potential NATO targets.

In Brega, the crowds gathered for the funeral of the people killed during Friday's airstrikes. They fired assault rifles in the air and vowed revenge.

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