Natio missiles have hit a site in Libya used by Muammar Gadfay's forces to stockpile military supplies and vehicles, the alliance said today, adding it was unaware of 15 civilian deaths reported by state media.
The attack late yesterday was the second within hours on what Nato said were clearly identified military targets in the coastal city of Brega, around 200km west of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
Libyan state television said a local bakery and a restaurant had been hit, wounding 20 people in addition to the 15 dead. State news agency Jana said a strike in the same area earlier yesterday had killed five civilians.
Separately, a Reuters correspondent in the capital Tripoli heard a total of four loud explosions as jets flew overhead on two occasions today. The blasts appeared to come from the eastern suburb of Tajura. Several other explosions shook the city late yesterday.
In what would be a morale-booster for rebels if they hear about it, four members of Libya's national football team and 13 other football figures defected to rebels, the BBC reported.
It said national goalkeeper Juma Gtat and Adel bin Issa, the coach of Tripoli's top club al-Ahly, announced the defections in the rebel-held Nafusa Mountains in western Libya.
"I am telling Colonel Gadafy to leave us alone and allow us to create a free Libya," the BBC quoted Gtat as saying at a hotel in the town of Jadu. "In fact I wish he would leave this life altogether."
Col Gadafy has suffered a series of defections by military officers, diplomats and members of his government, but has resisted efforts by rebels backed by a Nato bombing campaign to dislodge him after four decades in power.
Bin Issa told the BBC he had chosen to come to the Western Mountains "to send a message that Libya should be unified and free", adding: "I hope to wake up one morning to find that Gadafy is no longer there."
Reuters