Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- In the first loss of equipment since NATO began airstikes on Libya, an unmanned helicopter went down Tuesday in the central coastal area, though the alliance did not give any details on whether it was shot down or experienced mechanical problems.
NATO lost contact with the drone at 7:20 a.m., spokesman Wing Cmdr. Mike Bracken said at a news conference.
Libyan state television reported that an "Apache helicopter was downed in the area of Majr in Zliten," claiming it was the fifth NATO aircraft to be downed.
An Apache is an attack helicopter. Bracken specifically denied that NATO had lost any attack helicopters during the alliance's mission in Libya.
The loss for NATO comes as the alliance faced pressure over a series of incidents over the weekend and into Monday that resulted in allegations of civilian casualties and strikes on Libyan opposition vehicles.
Libya claimed that 15 people, including three children, were killed in Monday's incident, said Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim, and included strikes from eight rockets.
"You are planting the seeds of hatred, NATO," Ibrahim said.
Five houses and a farm were hit in the Surman area, west of Tripoli, at about 4 a.m. (10 p.m. ET Sunday), he said.
One of the homes belongs to Khaled el-Kweldi, a top aide to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Ibrahim said. He was not home at the time of the attack, but Khaleda el-Kweldi, a 6-year-old girl, was killed, along with Khalid el-Kweldi, a 4-year-old boy, the spokesman said. Another 6-year-old, Salam Lanouri, was also killed, according to Ibrahim.
NATO said a residential building west of Tripoli was targeted early Monday.
"NATO is aware of allegations that this strike caused civilian casualties," Bracken said. "That is something we cannot independently verify but I say again that this was a legitimate military target."
He would not give any details of how NATO came to determine that the target was a command and control communications node except to say that 17 satellite dishes could be seen in aerial imagery.
Bracken said the command and control center was directly involved in coordinating systematic attacks on the Libyan people.
Monday's strike in Surman came a day after NATO acknowledged an errant airstrike in Tripoli may have caused "a number of civilian casualties." Libya's government said Sunday that nine people were killed and six wounded when a NATO strike hit a residential neighborhood in the Libyan capital.
NATO said Sunday that a military missile site was the intended target. "However, it appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure," a NATO statement said.
On Saturday, NATO expressed regret after its aircraft mistakenly struck vehicles aligned with the Libyan opposition in the key and hotly contested eastern oil city of al-Brega.
Meanwhile Tuesday, Libyan opposition leader Mahmoud Jibril arrived in Beijing for meetings with Chinese officials, state media reported.
Jibril, the chairman of the Executive Board of the opposition Transitional National Council, will be in China for two days, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.
"China's major task is to promote peace and encourage talks," Hong said. "China has followed closely the development of the situation in Libya, and calls for the political resolution of the Libyan crisis."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the rebels "an important political power of Libya."
The acknowledgement comes a month after Jibril told CNN that China bolstered the opposition movement's stature by purchasing a shipment of oil from the opposition group for $160 million.
"We have maintained contacts with the both sides of Libya, and urge them to take actions that are conducive to the interest of the people of the country," Hong said. "We believe that the future of Libya should be determined by the Libyan people themselves, and China will respect the independent choice of the Libyan people."
In May, Jibril met with French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon in Paris. France has been the strongest backer for the Libyan rebels and the NATO air campaign.
Also in May, Jibril tried to secure formal recognition for the interim council from the White House, but fell short of getting one.
Since then, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the United States views the group as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
For weeks, NATO forces have been targeting forces loyal to Gadhafi in an effort to prevent them from inflicting civilian casualties. Most of those strikes have come from missiles fired from off-shore ships or aircraft flying high above the North African nation, though this month British and French attack helicopters flew closer to the ground in al-Brega to go after targets in that city more precisely.
The European Union's Foreign Affairs Council, meeting Monday in Luxembourg, stepped up sanctions on Gadhafi's regime, freezing assets of "six port authorities under the regime's control."
"The EU is taking further action against the military arsenal used by the regime against its own citizens," the organization said. Humanitarian shipments are exempt from the measure, it added.
"Time is not on Gadhafi's side," the organization said. "He has lost all legitimacy to remain in power. ... The time has come for a new chapter where Libyans can choose their own future."
Al-Brega is on a frontline -- east of Gadhafi's base in Tripoli and west of the rebels' headquarters in Benghazi -- in fighting that has taken place between the two sides over the past several months.
CNN's Jack Maddox, Per Nyberg and Helena Hong contributed to this report.
NATO lost contact with the drone at 7:20 a.m., spokesman Wing Cmdr. Mike Bracken said at a news conference.
Libyan state television reported that an "Apache helicopter was downed in the area of Majr in Zliten," claiming it was the fifth NATO aircraft to be downed.
An Apache is an attack helicopter. Bracken specifically denied that NATO had lost any attack helicopters during the alliance's mission in Libya.
The loss for NATO comes as the alliance faced pressure over a series of incidents over the weekend and into Monday that resulted in allegations of civilian casualties and strikes on Libyan opposition vehicles.
Libya claimed that 15 people, including three children, were killed in Monday's incident, said Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim, and included strikes from eight rockets.
"You are planting the seeds of hatred, NATO," Ibrahim said.
Five houses and a farm were hit in the Surman area, west of Tripoli, at about 4 a.m. (10 p.m. ET Sunday), he said.
One of the homes belongs to Khaled el-Kweldi, a top aide to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Ibrahim said. He was not home at the time of the attack, but Khaleda el-Kweldi, a 6-year-old girl, was killed, along with Khalid el-Kweldi, a 4-year-old boy, the spokesman said. Another 6-year-old, Salam Lanouri, was also killed, according to Ibrahim.
NATO said a residential building west of Tripoli was targeted early Monday.
"NATO is aware of allegations that this strike caused civilian casualties," Bracken said. "That is something we cannot independently verify but I say again that this was a legitimate military target."
He would not give any details of how NATO came to determine that the target was a command and control communications node except to say that 17 satellite dishes could be seen in aerial imagery.
Bracken said the command and control center was directly involved in coordinating systematic attacks on the Libyan people.
Monday's strike in Surman came a day after NATO acknowledged an errant airstrike in Tripoli may have caused "a number of civilian casualties." Libya's government said Sunday that nine people were killed and six wounded when a NATO strike hit a residential neighborhood in the Libyan capital.
NATO said Sunday that a military missile site was the intended target. "However, it appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure," a NATO statement said.
On Saturday, NATO expressed regret after its aircraft mistakenly struck vehicles aligned with the Libyan opposition in the key and hotly contested eastern oil city of al-Brega.
Meanwhile Tuesday, Libyan opposition leader Mahmoud Jibril arrived in Beijing for meetings with Chinese officials, state media reported.
Jibril, the chairman of the Executive Board of the opposition Transitional National Council, will be in China for two days, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.
"China's major task is to promote peace and encourage talks," Hong said. "China has followed closely the development of the situation in Libya, and calls for the political resolution of the Libyan crisis."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the rebels "an important political power of Libya."
The acknowledgement comes a month after Jibril told CNN that China bolstered the opposition movement's stature by purchasing a shipment of oil from the opposition group for $160 million.
"We have maintained contacts with the both sides of Libya, and urge them to take actions that are conducive to the interest of the people of the country," Hong said. "We believe that the future of Libya should be determined by the Libyan people themselves, and China will respect the independent choice of the Libyan people."
In May, Jibril met with French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon in Paris. France has been the strongest backer for the Libyan rebels and the NATO air campaign.
Also in May, Jibril tried to secure formal recognition for the interim council from the White House, but fell short of getting one.
Since then, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the United States views the group as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
For weeks, NATO forces have been targeting forces loyal to Gadhafi in an effort to prevent them from inflicting civilian casualties. Most of those strikes have come from missiles fired from off-shore ships or aircraft flying high above the North African nation, though this month British and French attack helicopters flew closer to the ground in al-Brega to go after targets in that city more precisely.
The European Union's Foreign Affairs Council, meeting Monday in Luxembourg, stepped up sanctions on Gadhafi's regime, freezing assets of "six port authorities under the regime's control."
"The EU is taking further action against the military arsenal used by the regime against its own citizens," the organization said. Humanitarian shipments are exempt from the measure, it added.
"Time is not on Gadhafi's side," the organization said. "He has lost all legitimacy to remain in power. ... The time has come for a new chapter where Libyans can choose their own future."
Al-Brega is on a frontline -- east of Gadhafi's base in Tripoli and west of the rebels' headquarters in Benghazi -- in fighting that has taken place between the two sides over the past several months.
CNN's Jack Maddox, Per Nyberg and Helena Hong contributed to this report.
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