(Reuters) - Following are the latest political and military developments in the Libyan crisis.
* The government of Muammar Gaddafi denied a rebel report on Friday that a NATO air strike had killed the Libyan leader's powerful son Khamis, commander of one of the government's most loyal and best-equipped units.
* Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the report of Khamis Gaddafi's death was a ploy to cover up the killing of a civilian family in Zlitan, a battlefront city where Gaddafi forces are trying to halt the rebel advance on Tripoli.
* A rebel spokesman said the air strike had killed 32 Gaddafi loyalists in Zlitan, where Khamis Gaddafi's elite 32nd Brigade is believed to have been leading the stand to defend the approaches to Tripoli, 160 km (100 miles) away.
* NATO said it conducted 117 air sorties Thursday, 44 of them strike sorties to identify and hit targets.
* NATO said targets hit Thursday included:
-- One military facility in the area of Bir al-Ghanam
-- Two military facilities in the vicinity of Tripoli
-- One tank, one multiple rocket system and one military facility in the Gharyan area
-- One ammunition storage facility, one military facility, two multiple rocket launchers and one surface-to-air missile system in the vicinity of Zlitan
-- Two artillery pieces in the Tawurgha area
-- Five military vehicles in the vicinity of Zuwarah
* Since NATO took over command of air strikes on March 31, its aircraft have conducted 17,808 sorties, including 6,745 strike sorties. NATO members that have been participating in air strikes in Libya includeFrance, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Italy and the United States.
* Seventeen ships under NATO command are patrolling the central Mediterranean Sea to enforce a U.N. arms embargo. On Thursday, 14 vessels were hailed to determine destination and cargo. Two were boarded but neither was diverted.
A total of 2,080 vessels have been hailed, 208 boarded and nine diverted since the start of the arms embargo.
