Libya rebels fire rockets near front line town

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Libyan rebels fired off barrages of rockets from west of the front line town of Ajdabiya on Friday as Nato warplanes few high above, an AFP reporter said.

A Libyan rebel convoy fitted with big guns and rocket launchers had earlier driven westwards past Ajdabiya, a key crossroads town in east Libya in rebel hands, to see if pro-regime forces had been rolled back by Nato warplanes.

The rebel convoy of pick-up trucks had nosed cautiously west, past a point that late on Thursday was the scene of a brief exchange of rocket and mortar fire with troops loyal to Gaddafi.

They soon afterwards sent off volleys of rockets but received no return fire, leaving the whereabouts of Muammar Gaddafi's forces unknown.

Nato warplanes were heard flying high above and sound of explosions could be heard in the distance but it was unclear whether they were bombings.

Journalists were prevented by a rebel checkpoint on Ajdabiya's outskirts from following the convoy.

The insurgents, fearful that live media coverage might give away their position and firepower to their enemy, shooed reporters away as they massed in Ajdabiya early on Friday.

It was an unusual burst of activity on what is usually a slow-moving prayer day in the Muslim world.

On Thursday, Nato jets were heard, but not seen, flying above the front line.

A couple of big explosions were heard in the distance which might have been air strikes.

The planes' intensified presence came as Nato foreign ministers agreed to keep up military pressure against Gaddafi's forces.