UNESCO head Irina Bokova on Monday branded as "unacceptable" NATO strikes on Libyan state television headquarters last month, which left three people dead, saying the media should not be a target.

"I deplore the NATO strike on Al-Jamahiriya and its installations," the director general of the Paris-based United Nations' cultural organisation said in a statement.

"Media outlets should not be targeted in military actions," she added, citing the Geneva Conventions and UN resolutions which condemn acts of violence against journalists and media personnel in conflict situations.

Three people were killed and 21 wounded in the NATO air strikes on the Libyan television headquarters in the capital on July 30, Bokova stressed.

"Silencing the media is never a solution. Fostering independent and pluralistic media is the only way to enable people to form their own opinion," the UNESCO head continued, underlining the civilian status of journalists in times of war.

NATO insisted that television broadcasts were being used as "an integral component of the regime apparatus designed to systematically oppress and threaten civilians and to incite attacks against them."

NATO has also claimed that the strike was conducted in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorizes the military action in Libya to protect civilians.

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