A Libyan woman is seen through a store window as she shops at a market in downtown Tripoli, Libya, Friday, July 29, 2011. A rebel special forces member accused fellow Libyan rebels on Friday of killing the movement's military chief, pointing to a potentially major split in the ranks of the opposition battling Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
A Libyan woman is seen through a store window as she shops at a market in downtown Tripoli, Libya, Friday, July 29, 2011. A rebel special forces member accused fellow Libyan rebels on Friday of killing the movement's military chief, pointing to a potentially major split in the ranks of the opposition battling Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
Libyan men carry the coffin, gesture and chant slogans during funeral of Libyan rebels' slain military chief Abdel-Fattah Younis in the rebel-held town of Benghazi, Libya, Friday, July 29, 2011. Thousands of mourners marched in the funeral procession Friday for the Libyan rebels' slain military chief, a day after he was gunned down under still mysterious circumstances. Abdel-Fattah Younis was killed as he traveled from his front lines operations room to the rebels' de facto capital Benghazi. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
A Libyan boy sits near his stand inside a market in downtown Tripoli, Libya, Friday, July 29, 2011. A rebel special forces member accused fellow Libyan rebels on Friday of killing the movement's military chief, pointing to a potentially major split in the ranks of the opposition battling Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim talks during a press conference concerning the death of Abdel-Fattah Younis, in Tripoli, Libya, Friday, July 29, 2011. The Libyan rebels' military commander was killed by his comrades while in custody after he was arrested by the opposition's leadership on suspicion of treason, witnesses said Friday, in a sign of disarray that posed a major setback for the movement battling Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) ? NATO warplanes bombed three Libyan state TV satellite transmitters in Tripoli overnight, targeting facilities that have been used to incite violence and threaten civilians, the military alliance said Saturday.
A series of loud explosions echoed across the capital before dawn. There was no immediate comment from Libyan officials on what had been hit, but state TV was still on the air in Tripoli as of Saturday morning.
NATO said the airstrikes aimed to degrade Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's "use of satellite television as a means to intimidate the Libyan people and incite acts of violence against them."
"Striking specifically these critical satellite dishes will reduce the regime's ability to oppress civilians while (preserving) television broadcast infrastructure that will be needed after the conflict," the alliance said in a statement posted on its website.
It called Gadhafi's TV broadcasts inflammatory and said they were intended to mobilize his supporters.
During the past 24 hours, alliance aircraft have also targeted military vehicles, radars, ammunition dumps, anti-aircraft guns and command centers near the front lines in the east and west, NATO said.
Libya's rebel movement, meanwhile, appeared to be in disarray after the mysterious death of their chief military commander. Abdel-Fattah Younis' body was found dumped outside the rebels' de facto capital of Benghazi on Thursday along with the bodies of two colonels who were his top aides. They had been shot and their bodies burned.
Witnesses have said they were killed by fellow rebels after being taken into custody on suspicion of treason.
The coalition of NATO members participating in the air campaign is also under strain as public opposition mounts in Europe to the costs of the mission ? estimated at more than a billion euros ? at a time of budget cuts and other austerity measures.
The United States was the first to limit its participation, deciding to only provide support to the European allies. Then Italy withdrew its only aircraft carrier and part of its air force contingent. Meanwhile, Norway has announced it will pull all of its F-16 warplanes out of the operation by Monday.
The other five nations taking part are Britain, France, Belgium, Denmark and Canada.
NATO has been increasingly embarrassed by the failure of the bombing campaign, now in its fifth month, to dislodge Gadhafi's regime. With the fasting month of Ramadan due to start in early August, there is a growing realization within the alliance that the costly campaign will drag on into the autumn and possibly longer.
NATO had hoped that a series of quick, sharp strikes would quickly force Gadhafi to give up power. The alliance has carried out about 6,500 strike sorties and a total of 17,000 sorties since March.
The only place where rebels have seen small advances lately is in the western Nafusa mountain range, where they have gradually pushed Gadhafi's forces out of a string of towns and villages, bringing them within about 60 miles (95 kilometers) of Tripoli.
In one sign that rebels were successfully holding onto territory in the mountains, families that had fled to Tunisia appeared to be confident enough to return to the area.
On Saturday, long lines formed at the Dhuheiba border crossing with Tunisia that enters the mountains, as families in pickup trucks laden with supplies returned home. Many were headed to Nalut, a town that Gadhafi's troops regularly shelled until rebels pushed them out earlier this week.
An official with the United Nations refugee agency, Lutfi ben Hamed, said about 2,000 people had entered Libya Friday, about double the daily number for the past month.
On Saturday, more than 100 cars waited on the Tunisian side to enter Libya. A similar number waited to enter Tunisia to pick up families and bring them home.
___
Associated Press writer Karin Laub contributed to this report from the Dhuheiba Border Crossing, Libya.
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