A three-storey house was badly damaged at the scene of the alleged raid in the Souk al-Juma residential district.

NATO says it destroyed a surface-to-air missile site in northern Tripoli overnight and is investigating the Libyan claims. NATO has previously admitted hitting mistaken targets.

NATO's Wing Cdr Mike Bracken said that he did not know the exact location of the building Libyans accuse the alliance of hitting.

"NATO deeply regrets any losses of civilian life during [the Libya] operation, and it would be very sorry indeed if a review of this incident concludes it was a NATO operation.

"Our pilots and air crew go to great lengths to minimalise civilian risk, but ultimately you can never make that risk zero in a military campaign.

"Those areas that might have been claimed to be residential by the Gaddafi regime in the past have turned out to be being used as C2 nodes [command and control centres]."