12 noon: Good afternoon and welcome to our continuing coverage of the military intervention in Libya. You can read our earlier live blog here.

• American and European military commanders are assessing the effect of the bombardment of Libyan targets. Overnight 110 cruise missiles were launched, and one large airbase alone is reported to have been hit with 40 bombs. "Effectively a no-fly zone has been put in place," said Mike Mullen, US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

• Libyan state TV has said there are 48 dead and 150 wounded from the attacks. Speaking from his Bab al-Azizia military compound on the southern outskirts of Tripoli, which was bombed in 1986, Muammar Gaddafi vowed to fight the onslaught "inch by inch". He spoke of the "glorious hours we are living" in a 15 minute speech. Thousands of his supporters have joined him at the barracks.

• China and Russia have condemned the attacks Both had abstained from the UN security council vote approving military action against Libya. The Arab League also called for a ceasefire, and the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, led a chorus of protest by Libya's Latin American allies.

• Aircraft continue to arrive at Mediterranean bases from allied countries including Canada, Denmark and Spain.

12.19pm: A no-fly zone is now officially in place over Libya.

The US chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told the NBC news station that Libyan government air defences had been "taken out" and there was no sign of Libyan aircraft.

"Operations yesterday went very well," Mullen said. "He [Gaddafi] hasn't had aircraft or helicopters flying the last couple days. So effectively that no-fly zone has been put in place."

12.31pm: Our Middle East editor Ian Black says Libyan state television is reporting hits on targets such as radar installations and a hospital to the east of Tripoli, incidents remain unverified as media access to evidence has been limited.

Listen! What's quite striking at this stage is although there's been some very fleeting pictures on Libyan TV of people injured, there's been no media access of any kind to see either dead or injured who've supposedly been targeted and hit, so the media is waiting for direct evidence of those things.

12.45pm: The Guardian's politics editor Patrick Wintour has this report on Liam Fox's comments about the political situation surrounding Libya and Arab involvement in any military operations.

Liam Fox, the defence secretary, made a series of announcements on the Western allies campaign in a BBC Politics interview, saying UK-based Tornados and Typhoons would be flying to Italy to set up a permanent air base. He added he was still hopeful that he will be able to persuade some Nato allies in the next few days that the mission should be co-ordinated through the Nato command and control of the operation, moving beyond a UN-led coalition of the willing. He admitted that a Nato-organised operation will upset some allies in the region, including reducing the prospects of Arab participation. He also said he had made calls with Arab nations this morning and had received a very positive and welcome response from unnamed Arab countries willing to supply assets to the region. He said he was hopeful some Arab nations – likely to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – will be involved in action, mainly policing the no fly zone in the next few hours. Fox said it was for them to make an announcement, rather than for Britain and it was very important for opinion in the Arab world to show that this is not simply the West acting, but an international coalition. Asked what will "mission accomplished" look like, Fox said that would be achieved if Libyan people free to control their own destiny. "Any support that we get has to be unconditional," he said, rejecting suggestions that the Arab leaders would participate only if the Arab nations were free to suppress rebellions in their own country. He said it was for Gaddafi to decide how to respond. Fox hoped a solution could be reached quickly saying "this is in the defence of the Libyan people against a very wicked and cruel power," and insisted that "regime change was "not an objective, but it may come about". "It would be much better for everyone if Gadaffi went, but given this is not part of the UN resolution, the important thing is to ensure that Gaddafi does not have control the military assets which he uses to brutalise and murder his people", he said. He was also pressed on why Britain was not doing more to defend the protestors in Bahrain saying the way through was a political dialogue.

1.31pm: Reuters are now reporting that Gaddafi's tanks have reached the centre of the rebel-held city of Misrata.

"Two people were killed so far today by snipers. They (snipers) are still on the rooftops. They are backed with four tanks, which have been patrolling the town. It's getting very difficult for people to come out," one resident, called Sami, told Reuters by telephone.

"There are also boats encircling the port and preventing aid from reaching the town."

Abdelbasset, a spokesman for the rebels in Misrata, told Reuters: "There is fighting between the rebels and Gaddafi's forces. Their tanks are in the centre of Misrata ... There are so many casualties we cannot count them."

1.54pm: The New York Times has a great story on the pro-Gaddafi supporters who have formed themselves into a human shield outside the Libyan leader's compound.

The group, which includes women and children, has been cheering and singing songs showing their support: "House by house, alley by alley," the catchiest song went, quoting a Qaddafi speech. "Disinfect the germs from each house and each room" – referring to the rebels.

One 52-year-old supporter, Ghazad Muftah, a widow there with her six grown-up children, said: "If they want to hit Muammar Gaddafi, they must hit us because we are all Muammar Gaddafi."

2.17pm: Correspondent Chris McGreal has sent in some pictures of the remains of those tanks we mentioned earlier.

He said that the road between Ajdabiya (which fell to Gaddafi's forces last week) and Benghazi is littered with the wreckage of burnt-out vehicles. Over 15 km he counted at least eight destroyed tanks, 12 armoured personnel carriers and dozens of 4x4 vehicles.

2.21pm: Another one from Chris McGreal.

2.26pm: A Reuters photographer has also been taking some dramatic pictures of the impact of the air strike on Libya – this one showing a big explosion.

2.28pm: More on the story of the Italian ship reportedly detained by Libyan authorities.

The Italian defence minister says it is ready to "intervene" adding that eight Italian jets are ready to join the coalition of forces.

Speaking on the Italian TV channel RAI, Ignazio La Russa said: "We want to participate as equals in the operation."

2.33pm: Another picture from Reuters. The bodies of two pro-Gaddafi fighters killed in the French airstrike

2.51pm: Defence and security correspondent Nick Hopkins has put together profiles of Samuel Locklear III, the American admiral who is coordinating the air and naval strikes in Libya, and the head of the British forces, Air Marshall Sir Stuart Peach.

Until an agreement is made over Nato leading the operation, French, British and American forces have gone ahead under the UN resolution.

The overall commander of the military effort to enforce the UN resolution against Colonel Gaddafi is currently a senior American admiral, Samuel Locklear III, who is coordinating the air and naval strikes from the USS Mount Witney, the flagship of the US Navy's Sixth Fleet. The command structure of the operation should eventually fall within Nato's responsibility, but French, British and American forces couldn't wait for agreement on this, which is expected to come within 24 hours. Admiral Locklear is also a Nato commander, and may well be chosen to continue in post.

That would give the operation a degree of continuity, though his experience is all naval, and a huge part of the job will be to enforce the no-fly zone, and coordinating which nations are flying what planes, where and when. Until Nato takes over, the coalition put together a 'needs must' chain of command, resulting in the strikes that were made against Colonel Gaddafi's forces. British forces are being controlled by Air Marshall Sir Stuart Peach, who is based at the armed forces joint headquarters in Northwood, Middlesex. He is working with Rear Admiral Ian Calder, who is also at Northwood, and Air Vice Marshall Greg Bagwell, who is at the Ramstein airbase in Germany. Military commanders insist this is not as complex as it might appear – and that video conference calls makes this kind of coordination possible. But there is no doubt that they would prefer the umbrella command of Nato, and the protection that comes from having the support of the group's 28 member nations. "The UN resolution was only passed on Thursday last week, so Nato is actually working quite quickly, considering the complexity of the situation," said a spokesman. Admiral Locklear is well liked within Nato, and has been in charge of missions to war zones such as Iraq and the Balkans. He is navy through and through – having joined aged 17 after growing up in Macon, Georgia. The Admiral told a radio station last year that his passions were golf, country music and skiing, and that he has been married for 32 years. Though he is not well known outside military circles, he has clashed with environmentalists, after a court ordered US navy vessels to stop using sonar equipment during training exercises off the coast of California because it was disorientating whales and dolphins. Thirteen of them became beached because of the noise pollution. But Admiral Locklear took a dim view of the decision, saying it "potentially puts American lives and our national security at risk.

3.05pm: As Italy says it's ready to join operations in Libya, Russia has said the international military force has killed civilians and called on it to stop what it says has been "indiscriminate" force.

Russian's foreign ministry spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement that the coalition of forces, including the UK, the US and France, had exceeded the UN mandate to enforce a no-fly zone over the country.

He said the air strikes had hit non-military targets in Tripoli and three other cities and he repeated the figures that have appeared on Libyan state television reporting 48 civilians dead and 150 wounded.

"In this connection, we are calling on the respective states to halt the indiscriminate use of force," Lukashevich said. Russia has also announced that it is evacuating some diplomatic staff and Russian citizens through Tunisia.

Along with four other countries – including China and Germany – Russia abstained from voting on the UN resolution that approved military action.

3.16pm: Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, has also now criticised the strikes carried out on Libya, saying there had been civilian casualties.

Although the league supported a no-fly zone over Libya, Moussa said the UN resolution also agreed to protect civilians which it has failed to do. The US said the airstrikes targeted mainly air defence systems in order to enforce the no-fly zone.

"What happened differs from the no-fly zone objectives," Moussa said. "What we want is civilians' protection, not shelling more civilians."

3.43pm: The coalition of forces enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya commands a considerable amount of firepower. Among them:

• Tomahawk cruise missiles, precision-guided bombs and Air force B-2 stealth bombers used by the US.

• Eight Rafale and four Mirage jets to survey rebel-held Benghazi, surveillance planes and anti-submarine warship deployed by France.

• Six F18s sent by Canada to an Italian base, along with 140 military personnel.

• Four anti-radar and anti-missile Tornados, which Italy says it can deploy within 15 minutes along with a considerable number of air bases including ones in Sigonella, Sicily and Aviano in northern Italy and Decimomannu in Sardinia.

• A Boeing 707 refueling plane from Spain and two Spanish bases for Nato use at Rota and Moron de la Frontera, where US Air Force planes have been seen.

• Typhoon and Tornado jets from the UK. Britain also has an air base in southern Cyprus and two British Frigates – HMS Westminster and HMS Cumberland – are currently stationed off the Libyan coast.

• F16s and 200 personnel available from Belgium from Monday and currently at a Greek air base.

Norway and Denmark have also offered military equipment.

3.54pm: A Libyan military official has confirmed that a Libyan air base was hit during the air stikes, according to Reuters. The official, who isn't named, said they had targeted anti-aircraft defences at Al-Watyah air base, 170km south-west of Tripoli.

"They tried to attack the [base's] anti-aircraft defences. Some were damaged," he said.

4.11pm: Admiral Mike Mullen, who we reported talking earlier to NBC, has made more comments now to CBS on what the outcome could be in Libya to CBS.

He says it's a possibility the situation could end up in a stalemate with Gaddafi clinging on to power. Mullen said the air mission in Libya was "clear and limited in scope" but said the future was "very uncertain".

The chair of the joint chief of staffs, said on NBC's Meet the Press that he recognised the possibility that Gaddafi could stay on, adding "It's very uncertain on how this ends."

He later told CNN's State of the Union programme that the operation "isn't about seeing him [Gaddafi] go".

Mullen acknowledged he didn't have a definitive answer on the political situation but said Gaddafi was more isolated than after the no-fly zone and an arms embargo were enforced. He said Gaddafi was "going to have to make some choices about his own future."

While the US was leading the initial operation, he said the US would a subsequent supporting role and shift command to its European and Arab partners – although the Arab League has criticised what they say is an operation that went too far.

"Leading it now, we're looking to hand off that leadership in the next few days," Mullen said. "This is a military operation, so that's got to be done smoothly."

4.17pm: Video clip of the chair of the joint chief of staffs, Mike Mullen on NBC's Meet the Press, including the conflicting reports over the number of civilian deaths that may have occurred.

5.00pm: A round-up of events that have happened today:

• The no-fly zone has been officially enforced over Libya and Libyan government air defences "taken out".

• There is some dispute over whether there have been civilian deaths and if so how many. While the US says there has been minimal collateral damage, Libya claims 48 non-military have died. Russia and the Arab League have supported these figures, saying the air strikes had gone further than their purpose of enforcing a no-fly zone.

• The Guardian's Middle East editor says media access to information has been limited. Evidence to corroborate Libya's claims has not been easy to come by.

• Liam Fox says Arab nations have given him a positive and welcome response to request to supply military equipment for operations in Libya. Though these countries remain unnamed. The British defence minister said it was for them to make an announcement.

• Four of Gaddafi's tanks reached the centre of the rebel-held city of Misrata. Two people were killed by snipers on rooftops. One resident in the town said pro-Gaddafi boats in the port were preventing aid from reaching the town.

• Supporters of Gaddafi have continued with a human shield around his compound in Tripoli. The group, which includes women and children, have been chanting songs against the rebel "germs".



• The Guardian's Chris McGreal has sent in pictures of what was left of Gaddafi's tanks post French air strike. A Reuters photographer has also taken pictures of explosions after the attack.

• Admiral Mike Mullen, chair of the US joint chiefs of staff, says Gaddafi could cling on to power but the scope of the military operation in Libya is "clear and limited".

5.04pm: An update on the situation for foreign press in Libya. The Agence France-Press news agency says two of their journalists and another photographer who was travelling with them have gone missing while reporting on fighting between Gaddafi forces and rebels.

AFP says Dave Clarke and photographers Roberto Schmidt and Joe Raedle (who works for Getty Images) went missing before meeting Gadaffi opponents on Saturday. The three were working near the city of Tobruk, in eastern Libya, near the border with Egypt – an area largely under rebel control.

Ali Hassan Al Jaber, a cameraman for Al-Jazeera was shot dead last week in what appeared to be an ambush while another Libyan journalist was also reportedly killed.

Four journalists for The New York Times were detained by government forces in the east of Libya last week but although the authorities said they would be released there has been no confirmation of this.

Ian Black told us earlier that the movements of journalists are being tightly controlled.

5.16pm: Still no more on Kamel Atalua, the British cameraman being held by Libyan authorities in Tripoli, along with other members of his Al Jazeera reporting team: cameraman Ammar al-Hamdan and correspondents Lotfi al-Messaoudi and Ahmed Vall Ould Addin.

Al Jazeera's director general Wadah Khanfar tweeted:

We're doing everything possible to secure the release of our colleagues from the Gaddafi authorities. We want them back immediately.

5.20pm: France says Qatar will join the international operation against Gaddafi within hours.

Laurent Teisseire, the French defense ministry spokesman, said Qatar war planes would join the operation alongside French jets and called Qatar a "historic partner" of France in the Arab world.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, Teisseire said the Qatari contribution would come "in the hours to come."

5.47pm: Ian Black says despite Russia, the Arab League and Libyan officials claiming figures of civilians, the issue is still far from clear.

He said he had attended the funeral of a three-year-old girl who Libyan authorities claim was killed in an air strike but also points to differing numbers of dead put out by two different official sources.

He said it was difficult to say how many people who had died were civilian or military personnel.

Handing over now to my colleague Ben Quinn.

6.13pm: The Foreign Office has released a statement in response to criticism of the bombardment of Libya by the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, who said that the organisation wanted to see "the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians".

The Foreign Office said:

Unlike Qadhafi, the coalition is not attacking civilians. The UN resolution authorises all necessary measures to protect the Libyan people. For the No Fly Zone to be enforced safely, it is necessary to carry out carefully targeted operations against Libyan air defence capabilities. All missions are meticulously planned to ensure every care is taken to avoid civilian casualties. We will continue to work with our Arab partners to enforce the resolution for the good of the Libyan people.

6.23pm: As the second night of airstrikes begin, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said it is "deeply concerned about the intensification in recent days of the fighting in and around densely populated centres in Libya, with the consequent risk to civilian lives."

It called on "all parties", including the international forces, the Libyan government forces, and rebels, "to abide strictly by the rules and principles of international humanitarian law."

"Attacks that directly target the civilian population are strictly prohibited by international humanitarian law," said Yves Daccord, ICRC director-general.

"That law also prohibits the use of human shields. Indiscriminate attacks are likewise strictly prohibited. The parties must take all precautions, including in their choice of means and methods of warfare, to avoid as far as possible harming civilians."

6.44pm: British military aircraft are taking part in the latest strikes in Libya, UK defence sources have confirmed to the Guardian.

It's not clear where they are focussing their fire, but some fairly intensive anti-aircraft fire has been blazing away in Tripoli in the last half hour.

The Ministry of Defence said earlier this evening that a number of RAF Typhoons landed at Gioia del Colle in southern Italy. RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus continues to support the operation.

6.54pm: Muammar Gaddafi's armed forces have announced that they will begin a ceasefire at 7pm (GMT).

It's the second announcement of a ceasefire by the regime's forces, but one thing that might also be significant about the statement, which was announced at a press conference in Tripoli, is the fact that there doesn't appear to be any mention of Gaddafi.

Could it also be an attempt to suggest that the initiative is in the hands of a wider circle than just Gaddafi himself?

7.02pm: The ceasefire statement issued by the Libyan regime was accompanied by a call on the country's tribes to take part in a march from Tripoli to Benghazi for talks on reconciliation

A regime spokesman, Ibrahim Moussa, read out the statement, saying: "We, the Popular Social Leadership of Libya, recommend to the armed forces to announce an immediate ceasefire to all military units."

7.10pm: The Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black says that he heard explosions and bursts of anti-aircraft fire several times tonight in central Tripoli shortly after darkness fell.

The firing appeared to come from close to the sea shore, although there were no air raid sirens. Traffic continued to move normally and there was little sign of panic on the streets, he added.

7.17pm: Some new pictures have come in showing the impact of last night's strikes. One (above) is particularly eye-catching, showing a tank belonging to pro-Gaddafi forces exploding along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah.

7.32pm: Hugo Chavez, who has enjoyed good relations with Muammar Gaddafi in the past, has been condemning what he called "indiscriminate bombing" by the US, Britain and others.

"What madness. ... It's imperial madness," said the Venezuelan President (left).

The Associated Press reports on his comments, made during his weekly television and radio program:

Chavez demanded the airstrikes be halted and echoed claims of civilian victims by the Libyan government, which said 48 people were killed. "Civilian victims have now begun to appear because some bombs are launched 200, 400 bombs from out there at sea and those bombs fall where they fall," Chavez added. "Libya is under imperial fire. Nothing justifies this," Chavez said, holding up a newspaper showing an explosion on the front page. "Indiscriminate bombing," he said. "Who gave those countries the right? Neither the United States, nor France, nor England, nor any country has the right to be dropping bombs." Chavez said African Union leaders were meeting in Mauritania to discuss the conflict. "That's what must be done, and going there to talk with the parties in the conflict, but not launching bombs, more bombs, more death," Chavez said.

"We pray to God for peace in Libya."

7.52pm: Turkey is urging a review of NATO's operational planning for Libya, saying the military intervention unleashed on the north African country had "changed the parameters", according to AFP.

The French news agency quoted a Turkish NATO diplomat as calling for a review of the role that NATO might play in the implementation of UN Resolution 1973 on Libya "in light notably of civilian losses that the ongoing bombings may cause".

In a further sign of unease in Turkey, the country's news agency, Anatolia, also reports that the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said he hoped long-term military action would not be necessary.

8.03pm: Renewed bursts of anti-aircraft fire have been heard in Tripoli, where the power has gone out in some areas.

8.05pm: Yesterday's air-strikes significantly "degraded" Libya's air defences, a press conference taking currently taking place at the Pentagon has been told by Vice Admiral William Gortney.

After taking the press conference through a series of slides showing the damage done to targets in various parts of Libya, including to ground forces near Benghazi, he added: "Benghazi is not completely safe from attack but it is under a good deal less threat."

US forces and others are shifting towards a "more consistent and persistent" air presence over Libya, he added.

"We are not going after Gaddafi," he said in response to a question about whether the strikes were specifically targeting the Libyan leader.

He was asked what Libyan ground forces needed to go to stop the coalition attacking them.

"If they no longer advance on Benghazi then that would be good sign," he replied.

He said the US is not co-ordinating the attacks with rebel forces "at this time".

8.20pm: The Gaddafi regime will continue to be able to fly helicopters, despite the no fly zone, the Pentagon press conference has been told by Vice Admiral William Gortney.

8.37pm: One of the other details to emerge from the Pentagon press conference was an indication that the Arab League is now fully on board again after its head earlier criticised the air strikes.

The league "fully endorses" the no fly zone, said Vice Admiral Gorntey.

8.41pm: The Guardian's Martin Chulov has meanwhile been mulling over (above) the significance of earlier comments in the Pentagon press conference that the coalition was "not going after Gaddafi".

8.48pm: Reports are coming in of a plume of smoke rising over an area where the compound of Muammar Gaddafi is located.

The smoke was seen in the area of Bab al-Aziziya, according to the BBC, which added that one of its reporters on the ground there believes that anti-aircraft weapons in the area may have been targeted, rather than the compound itself.

A Pentagon spokesman said earlier that Gaddafi himself was not on a list of targets.

8.54pm: Sporadic explosions and heavy gunfire could be heard in the streets of central Benghazi in the last hour, according to Reuters.

The sound of fighting in the rebel-held city was heard between 2000 and 2020 GMT, some time after the Libyan regime said that it was starting its second ceasefire of the conflict.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the rebel movement in the city has claimed that more than 8,000 Libyans aligned with the rebels have been killed in the revolt.

"Our dead and martyrs number more than 8,000 killed," Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told Al Jazeera.

8.59pm: Nick Hopkins, the Guardian's defence and security correspondent, has filed some detail on last night's air strikes and on how the military campaign is likely shape up:

The chief of the defence staff, General Sir David Richards, will be in charge of wargaming different scenarios, but the operation has been undertaken so quickly that detailed plans for a long, drawn-out campaign have not been formulated – yet. One hope is that the use of overwhelming force and the systematic destruction of Gaddafi's military capability might encourage his closest advisers to leave him. That, say analysts, may still not be enough to get rid of him. "I don't think that Gaddafi will ever stand down unilaterally," said Barak Seener of the Royal United Services Institute. "He thinks he has a natural right to be there. "He does not see himself as a servant of the people. He thinks he has a right to be indiscriminately oppressive." With no obvious finish line to run towards, the military campaign against Gaddafi is likely to continue in the coming days with further sorties against specific targets – and commanders stepping up efforts to get Arab involvement in new missions, probably with aircraft from Qatar or the United Arab Emirates.

9.46pm: The US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, says the Pentagon expects to turn control of the Libya military mission over to a coalition led either by the French and British or by NATO "in a matter of days".

But he added that Arab League sensitivity to operating under Nato flag is a factor in terms of how leadership of the campaign in the skies over Libya takes shape.

"I think that there a couple of possibilities. One is British and French leadership. Another is the use of the NATO machinery," Gates said as he to flew to Russia earlier.

"I think there is a sensitivity on the part of the Arab League to being seen to be operating under a NATO umbrella. And so the question is if there is a way we can work out NATO's command and control machinery without it being a NATO mission and without a NATO flag, and so on."

So far, the Gulf state of Qatar is the only Arab state which has said that it is taking part in the military action.

On a related note, Egypt's foreign minister has meanwhile cited reasons linked to internal security and the fact that so many Egyptians live in Libya as the reason why Cairo chose not to take part.

10.02pm: The Guardian's Chris McGreal has filed an eye-witness account of what he found after catching up with the remains of pro-Gaddafi forces targeted by air strikes yesterday:

The dozen or so men clustered behind the last smouldering tank looked as if they had died while they slept. Their blankets bore no burn marks so perhaps it was the force of blasts – powerful enough to rip the turrets off the Russian-made tanks and toss them 20 metres or more across the open field near Benghazi – that killed Muammar Gaddafi's soldiers. The air attack came at 4am , after the tanks pulled back from a day-long assault on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. The crews chose to rest in a field about 10 miles from the de facto capital of the anti-Gaddafi revolutionaries. It must have seemed safe to the soldiers. The rebels were far away and the tank crews would have seen any threat approaching by road. They gathered to eat and sleep behind the tank furthest into the field. But it was no protection from the threat in the sky. The tanks and their operators were sitting ducks in the open and probably never heard the planes. The French pilots did not even have to be concerned about the risk of harming civilians. Within moments, three of the four tanks in the field were shells. What was not immediately incinerated was mangled, thrown into the sky and dumped in bits on the earth. Machine guns twisted into grotesque shapes, broken engine parts and flattened shells lay among the wreckage. Four hours later, two of the tanks were still smouldering. A flatbed lorry used to haul them to the edge of Benghazi was on fire. A handful of pickup trucks, one carrying tins of food for the troops, had been burned out. Scavengers were picking over the corpses of Gaddafi's dead soldiers.

10.41pm: The White House says it would not recognize a ceasefire declared by Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

"Our view at this point...is that it isn't true, or has been immediately violated," White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon has told reporters.

Donilon added that coalition forces had a "good first day" in their intervention in Libya.

10.47pm: A building which is part of Gaddafi's residence in Tripoli has been destroyed in Tripoli, according to the AFP news agency.

10.52pm: The Royal Navy has launched guided Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) against targets in Libya for a second night in succession, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The Chief of Defence Staff's Strategic Communications Officer, Major General John Lorimer, said: "I can confirm that British Armed Forces have participated in another co-ordinated strike against Libyan Air Defence systems."

"For a second time, the UK has launched guided Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) from a Trafalgar Class submarine in the Mediterranean as part of a coordinated coalition plan to enforce the resolution.

"We and our international partners are continuing operations in support of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973."

11.02pm: The building which has been destroyed by a missile strike inside Gaddafi's compound was an administrative building, the AFP news agency has added.

11.06pm: NATO's top decision-making body has approved plan to implement the UN arms embargo on Libya, but failed to agree on a plan for the alliance to enforce the no-fly zone, according to a report from the Associated Press news agency.

The AP reported:

Diplomats said Turkey's opposition to any NATO intervention in Libya stalled the approval of plans to launch aerial patrols over Libya to prevent the government air force from attacking civilian targets, which were drawn up by NATO's military staff. Both actions will require a separate "execute directive" by the North Atlantic Council, which requires the consensus of all 28 alliance members. Diplomats said this could be issued on Tuesday at the earliest. NATO members France, Britain and the United States have been carrying out strikes on Libyan targets since Saturday. But they have acted as individual nations rather than members of the alliance.

11.28pm: A former Director-General in the Ministry of Defence says that there there appears to be no cohesive plan for the military operations which began yesterday.

Rear-Admiral Chris Parry writes in an analysis for The Times (paywall) that the intervention has been initiated without an identifiable end-state or joined-up strategy for delivery having been agreed upon.

Perhaps even more strikingly, he also warns that any strategy needs to recognise that some form of intervention on the ground could be required if major loss of life is be avoided.

Citing his experience from Bosnia and Iraq, he says that no-fly zones can only achieve limited objectives within a broader campaign, adding that dictators can still "kill with impunity" even if a "perfectly good" no-fly zone is enforced.

It remains uncertain whether the coalition of countries involved in the intervention, or Nato, has a mature strategy for deciding on what happens next in Libya, he warns.

Any strategy needs to recognise that some form of intervention on the ground could be required — and soon — if serious bloodshed is to be avoided.

11.51pm: Foreign journalists in Tripoli have been escorted to a cliff-top cemetery overlooking the Mediterranean where they were told that the dead from air-strikes were being buried.

Reuters reports however:

The mourners themselves spoke in quieter tones and the conflicting accounts they gave for the circumstances surrounding the deaths of their loved ones made it difficult to assess the veracity of the official version. As a cleric fired up people who said they were mourners at the cemetery and plain clothes security men defiantly fired assault rifles into the air, the uncle of a three-month-old girl stood over her freshly dug grave, covered with a few roses. The uncle, Muhammad Salim, who seemed calm, said the airstrike that hit the girl's house also wounded her mother. Her father offered a different account, saying no one was injured. "Is this what they call democracy? This is nothing but the killing of innocent people. Babies," yelled one teenager as other tempers began to flare and calls for jihad erupted. A Libyan government health official said 64 people had been killed in the bombardment overnight in the biggest intervention against an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

12.04am: Here is a round-up of developments today:

• A second night of air strikes against targets inside Libya has got underway despite waning support from China, Russia and Arab states. Libyan air defences have been significantly "degraded" and the rebel held city of Benghazi is "under a good deal less threat," the Pentagon said.

British forces are taking part in the attacks, including the Royal Navy, which fired missiles from a submarine in the Mediterranean.

• The onslaught resumed despite a ceasefire announced by the Libyan authorities at 7pm UK time. Earlier in the day, the Libyan dictator had threatened "a long war", and his forces launched a fresh assault on rebels in Misrata, where one resident in the town said pro-Gaddafi boats in the port were preventing aid from reaching the town.

• Nato ambassadors approved a plan for the alliance to help enforce a UN arms embargo on Libya but officials said more discussion was needed on possible Nato involvement in enforcing the no-fly zone.

One member, Turkey, which has spoken against intervention in Libya, had earlier reportedly blocked agreement among the ambassadors.

The US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, said the US expects to turn control of the mission over to a coalition headed either by the French and British or by Nato "in a matter of days."

• Liam Fox says Arab nations have given him a positive and welcome response to request to supply military equipment for operations in Libya. These countries remain unnamed. The British defence minister said it was for them to make an announcement.

• The Guardian's Chris McGreal has filed an eyewitness account of the carnage wreaked on pro-Gaddafi forces near Benghazi.

He has also sent pictures of what was left of Gaddafi's tanks following a French air strike at the weekend.

This blog is being wrapped up for now, but full coverage of developments in Libya can be found here.