NATO says it struck 25 Libyan tanks near Ajdabiya, Misrata

"As of noon today, NATO air strikes have taken out 11 tanks on the road to Ajdabiya and strikes will continue through the day and tonight," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"Clearly the situation in Ajdabiya is desperate and Kadhafi forces are attacking the town with heavy weapons," the official said.

Loud explosions rocked the battleground town of Ajdabiya for a second day Sunday, as rebel fighters advanced cautiously after suffering a major reverse at the hands of loyalists.

Another 14 regime tanks were destroyed near Misrata, the rebels' last major bastion in the west, besieged by Colonel Moamer Kadhafi's forces for more than a month, the NATO official said.

The alliance had already taken out 15 tanks near Misrata on Friday and Saturday, bringing to 29 the total number of tanks destroyed around Libya's third largest city in the past three days.

Western strikes against regime forces began on March 19 under a UN mandate to protect the population after Kadhafi unleashed his security forces to violently put down pro-democracy protests.

The United States handed control of the operation to NATO on March 31. Libyan rebels have criticised NATO in recent days, accusing the alliance of failing to protect the population in Misrata.

But NATO says it is picking up the pace of air strikes. Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, head of Operation Unified Protector, said Saturday that warplanes had destroyed ammunition stockpiles and several armoured vehicles in the previous 24 hours.