Rebels had pressed westward halfway to the oil refinery town of Brega, 80 kilometres (50 miles) away before being pushed back toward Ajdabiya on Saturday.

And late Saturday, Kadhafi's government said it shot down two rebel helicopters violating the no-fly zone over Libya.

NATO aircraft struck ammunition stockpiles east of Tripoli that were being used to resupply Kadhafi's forces who were involved in shelling innocent civilians in Misrata, about 215 kilometres (130 miles) east of Tripoli.

Residents fleeing Misrata arrived by boat to the rebellion's eastern stronghold of Benghazi on Saturday.

"There is not a word in the dictionary to describe this. 'Disaster' is not enough," one captain, Ali Spak, whose boat was part of a maritime lifeline between Misrata and Benghazi, told reporters.

NATO said it continued to target forces who fired on civilians despite the loyalists' tactic of shielding themselves or their weapons behind bystanders.

"In addition to hitting their supplies, our aircraft successfully destroyed a significant percentage of the Libyan government's armoured forces," General Charles Bouchard said in the statement.

"Some of these armoured forces also were involved in the indiscriminate shelling of Misrata," he added.

The mission to protect civilians was being made difficult by the use of women and children as human shields by government troops striking at rebel fighters in the heart of communities, NATO said.

"We have observed horrific examples of regime forces deliberately placing their weapons systems close to civilians, their homes and even their places of worship," said Bouchard.

"Troops have also been observed hiding behind women and children. This type of behaviour violates the principles of international law and will not be tolerated," he added.

Kadhafi's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaaim, said late Saturday in Tripoli that two rebel helicopters violating the no-fly zone were shot down in the Brega region.

Kaaim hit out at the NATO forces in charge of applying Security Council Resolution 1973 imposing the air exclusion zone over Libya, saying: "NATO on Saturday permitted the rebels to violate this resolution and use combat helicopters."

As diplomatic efforts gathered pace for a truce, a huge blast rocked Ajdabiya, with some residents suggesting it might have been a NATO air strike -- which NATO denied.

Smoke was seen billowing over the key road junction town that had seen heavy exchanges between retreating rebels and advancing Kadhafi loyalists hours before.

Dozens of cars and military vehicles were seen pouring east out of Ajdabiya toward Benghazi, as a helicopter bearing a rebel flag headed west towards the front line despite a no-fly zone.

NATO said its warplanes intercepted a MiG-23 fighter jet flown near Benghazi by a rebel pilot earlier Saturday and forced him to land after he violated the no-fly zone.

Advancing government forces shelled the retreating rebels west of Ajdabiya, an AFP correspondent there heard. At least 10 loud explosions rocked the town's outskirts.

In other developments, the International Committee of the Red Cross said a ship it chartered docked in Misrata with medicines and surgical supplies as well as five ICRC staff.

Earlier this week, the United Nations said a World Food Programme ship carrying food, medicine and doctors arrived late on Thursday at Misrata with 600 tonnes of foodstuffs, enough to feed 40,000 people for a month.

Doctors said last week that 200 people had been killed there since the fighting began.

On the diplomatic front, EU foreign ministers will meet a member of the Transitional National Council next week, despite a lack of consensus in the bloc on how to deal with the opposition group.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton issued the invitation on Tuesday to the meeting in Luxembourg, which will be the first between the Libyan opposition and the European Union as a whole.

And a visiting delegation of African leaders seeking to mediate a ceasefire in Libya will be shown "due respect" by rebels fighting Kadhafi's forces, an official in their stronghold in Benghazi said.

But the insurgents will not accept any deal involving Kadhafi or his family staying in power, spokesman Mustafa Gheriani told reporters.

"We know exactly what we want. If they (the African leaders) think there could be a transitional period with Kadhafi or his sons, they need to go to Misrata where women and children are being violated and tell that to them," he said.

South African President Jacob Zuma and other leaders from a high-level African Union panel have been given NATO permission to meet Kadhafi in Tripoli, and the rebel chiefs in Benghazi on Sunday and Monday, according to the South African foreign ministry.

Italy will decide early next week whether to join in attacking Kadhafi's troops, but is likely to remain in a supporting role, Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa told La Repubblica daily.

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