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Libya | Civilians not 'under attack' by air raids
The US chief of staff for the mission in Libya has insisted there have been no reports of civilian casualties caused by allied action.
Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber's comments come despite claims to the contrary by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's government.
The mission entered its fifth consecutive night of air strikes by the US-led international force.
Earlier, British Air Vice Marshal Greg Bagwell said Col Gaddafi's air force "no longer exists as a fighting force".
Witnesses reported by the BBC said there had been an explosion at a military base in the Tajura region east of Tripoli, and reports late on Wednesday of government tanks shelling the hospital in the rebel-held western city of Misrata.
Witnesses had earlier said the tanks encircling the city had pulled back from their positions under air assault from international forces.
There were also reports of fierce fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces in the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiya. Residents fleeing the town described shelling, gunfire and houses on fire.
Rear Admiral Hueber was speaking to reporters by phone from the command ship USS Mount Whitney in the Mediterranean.
"We are putting pressure on Gaddafi's ground forces that are threatening cities," he said. Asked if that meant air strikes, he replied: "Yes."
He continued: "Our mission here is to protect the civilian populace and we choose our targets and plan our actions with that as a top priority."
His comments came as Nato members debated who should lead the intervention, with the US keen to hand over operational control to Nato.
AVM Bagwell said the allies could now operate "with near impunity" over the skies of Libya.
Speaking during a visit to RAF aircrew based at Gioia del Colle in southern Italy, he said they were now applying unrelenting pressure on the Libyan armed forces.
"We are watching over the innocent people of Libya and ensuring that we protect them from attack," he said. "We have the Libyan ground forces under constant observation and we attack them whenever they threaten civilians or attack population centres."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has again urged Col Gaddafi to step down and leave Libya.
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Western warplanes have hit Libya for a fifth night, but have so far failed to stop Muammar Gaddafi's tanks from shelling opposition-held towns.
A loud explosion was heard in Tripoli, the capital, early on Thursday, and smoke could be seen rising from an area where a military base is situated.
"We heard another explosion just now. We see smoke rising. There are people on rooftops. It seems to be in a military area near the engineering college [in the Tajoura area]," one resident told Reuters news agency.
Eight explosions were also heard in the east of the capital late on Wednesday.
Libyan state television said Western planes had struck in Tripoli and in Jafar, southwest of the capital.
"Military and civilian targets were attacked by colonialist crusaders," the report said.
Government officials have accused coalition forces of killing dozens of civilians, but have not shown reporters in the capital any evidence of such deaths. US military officials deny any civilians have been killed in airstrikes.
Some journalists were taken to a hospital early on Thursday morning and shown 18 charred bodies, which the government said were military personnel and civilians killed in the air strikes, Reuters reported.
