Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi refuted reports that he was injured last Thursday during NATO attacks, saying he is in a place where NATO bombs "cannot reach," in an audio message broadcast on state television on Friday evening.

"I tell the crusader cowards — I live in a place that you cannot reach. I live in the hearts of millions," said Gaddafi.

According to Libyan officials, the strike killed three people.

NATO officials said a command-and-control bunker was hit.

On April 30, a NATO airstrike hit a Tripoli compound reportedly housing Gaddafi and one of his sons. Gaddafi's youngest son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, and three of his grandchildren were killed in the strike.

The world's major powers, the United States, Britain and France, started on March 19 to launch strikes from the air and sea against Gaddafi's forces after the UN Security Council passed a resolution to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and authorize "all necessary measures" to protect civilians in Libya, Xinhua reported.