More than 600 people have died in the violent clashes that swept Libya since the demonstrations to unseat longtime leader Moammer Gadhafi began last week, various media sources reported on Monday.

According to Human Rights Watch, at least 250 of those died on Monday alone after the violence spread from the eastern city of Benghazi to the capital of Tripoli.

Open gallery view Men carry a coffin at Al-Jalaa hospital in Benghazi, Libya on Monday, Feb. 21, 2011. Credit: AP

Witnesses in Tripoli told Al-Jazeera television in a live broadcast on Monday that Libyan warplanes were bombing indiscriminately across the capital.

There was no independent verification of the report.

But two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots flew their jets to Malta where they told authorities they had defected after being ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said.

They said the two pilots, both colonels, took off from a base near Tripoli. One of them has requested political asylum.

Adel Mohamed Saleh, a witness who called himself a political activist, said the bombings had initially targeted a funeral procession.

"What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," A

"Our people are dying. It is the policy of scorched earth." he said. "Every 20 minutes they are bombing."

Asked if the attacks were still happening he said: "It is continuing, it is continuing. Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car they will hit you."

The protesters were reportedly heading to the army base to obtain ammunition of their own, but witnesses said the air force bombed the demonstrators before they could get there.

Clashes between protesters and security forces, which had been centered in the second largest city Benghazi, escalated on Monday and spread to Tripoli after Gadhafi's son went on state television to proclaim that his father remained in charge with the army's backing and would fight until "the last man, the last woman, the last bullet."

The protests and violence were the heaviest yet in the capital.

Even as Seif al-Islam Gadhafi spoke Sunday night, clashes were raging in and around Tripoli's central Green Square, lasting until dawn Monday, witnesses said. They reported snipers opening fire on crowds trying to seize the square, and Gadhafi supporters speeding through in vehicles, shooting and running over protesters.

Early Monday, protesters took over the office of two of the multiple state-run satellite news channels, witnesses said.

A major government building in the capital was on fire on Monday morning, a Reuters reporter said. The building is where the General People's Congress, or parliament, meets when it is in session in Tripoli.

After daybreak Monday, smoke was rising from two sites in Tripoli where a police station and a security forces bases are located, said Rehab, a lawyer watching from the roof of her home.

"The city on Monday was shut down and streets empty, with schools, government offices and most shops closed except a few bakeries serving residents hunkered down in their houses," she said, speaking on condition she be identified only by her first name.

In Benghazi, protesters were in control of the streets Monday after days of bloody clashes and were swarming over the main security headquarters, looting weapons, several residents said. A Turkish Airlines flight trying to land in Benghazi on Monday was forced to circle over the airport and then return to Istanbul.

Protesters in Benghazi took down the Libyan flag from above the city's main courthouse and in its place raised the flag of the country's old monarchy, toppled in 1969 in the military coup that brought Gadhafi to power, one witness said.

Libya has seen the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country on the wave of protests sweeping the region that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.

