Several explosions have been heard in the east of the Libyan capital Tripoli this evening and smoke was seen rising into the night sky.
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'We heard four explosions, then after five minutes we heard four more,' said a resident of the eastern Tajoura neighbourhood. 'We saw smoke and fire afterwards.'
One blast was heard on a military base in the Tajura region 30km east of Tripoli.
Libyan state television has reported that the blasts were 'crusader colonialists bombing some civilian and military locations in Tajura'.
The base at Tajura was struck by allied forces on Saturday, the first day of the military operations launched against Libya to impose a UN no-fly zone on the country.
The latest strikes come after a British air force commander said that the international coalition has wiped out Muammar Gaddafi's air force.
RAF Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell said the allied forces had 'taken away (Gaddafi's) eyes and ears' and 'destroyed the majority of his air force'.
Meanwhile, a doctor in the rebel-held city of Misrata said that government forces were closing in on the city's main hospital.
'Government tanks are closing in on Misrata hospital and shelling the area,' said the doctor.
Gaddafi's tanks shelled the western city for several this morning, while residents said snipers have killed at least five people.
Government forces also resumed their bombardment of Zintan, another rebel-held town in west Libya, a resident said, and tanks are expected there.
'Gaddafi's brigades started bombardment from the northern area half an hour ago. The bombardment is taking place now. The town is completely surrounded. The situation is very bad,' the resident, Abdulrahman, told Reuters news agency.
'They are getting reinforcements. Troops backed with tanks and vehicles are coming. We appeal to the allied forces to come and protect civilians,' he said.
While Western air power has grounded Gaddafi's warplanes and pushed back his forces from the brink of rebel stronghold Benghazi, his army has been besieging Libyan holdouts by rebels fighting to overthrow his 41-year rule.
In the east, disorganised and badly equipped rebels have failed to capitalise on air strikes and have been pinned down outside Ajdabiyah, 150km west of Benghazi.
Elsewhere, the US bombed the wreckage of an F-15 fighter jet that went down in Libya due to mechanical failure.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the wreckage was bombed overnight 'to prevent materials from getting into the wrong hands'.
