Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is alive despite what a Libyan government official called a NATO attempt to kill him by bombing his compound, a government spokesman asserted in a defiant statement Monday.
"The message that was sent by NATO in the early hours of this morning was sent to the wrong address," Mussa Ibrahim said in a written statement.
The statement came hours after the sounds of loud explosions and jets pierced through Tripoli's skies and state-run TV reported that airstrikes flattened a building at Gadhafi's compound.
The airstrikes appeared to be some of the heaviest attacks by NATO in the last few weeks as the deadly fighting in Libya rages on.
Libyan state TV said military and civilian casualties resulted from the strike on the Bab el-Azizia compound.
A banner on Libyan state television cited a military source saying that the "crusaders' airstrikes" were targeting both civilian and military targets, resulting in casualties and damage.
It was unclear where Libya's longtime ruler was on Monday.
Meanwhile, despite reports that Gadhafi's forces have withdrawn from the war-torn port city of Misrata, reports of casualties there continue to mount.
Misrata is the scene of some of the deadliest battles of the war as rebels attempt to oust Gadhafi, who has been in power for 42 years.
At least 36 people were killed there on Sunday, rebel spokesman Col. Ahmad Bani told CNN Monday.
Bani says at least one Gadhafi brigade duped a group of opposition fighters on Sunday by raising the rebel flag, then opening fire when the rebels cheered and approached.
"They were happy to see them and they were clapping, and that's when the Gadhafi brigade started shooting," Bani said.
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