Blasts and Libyan anti-aircraft fire rattled Tripoli early Thursday, an AFP journalist reported.

The agency added that air raids against Gaddafi’s forces entered a sixth day.

The official JANA news agency said coalition raids killed "a large number" of civilians including rescuers who were trying to remove the dead and wounded from the rubble.

Witnesses also reported a huge blast Wednesday night at a military base in the Tajura residential neighbourhood some 32 kilometres east of the capital, while anti-aircraft fire was heard as warplanes thundered over Tripoli.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said the strikes were a "success" and would "continue as long as necessary" and denied reports that the airstrikes had killed civilians, saying "it is the exact opposite."