The U.S. and its allies intensified air attacks against forces loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi on Sunday, keeping anti-Gadhafi rebels from being immediately overrun and bringing a reprieve to the increasingly desperate pro-democracy uprising.

Allied jets and missiles pounded Libyan military targets over the weekend, including one of Col. Gadhafi's armored columns seen charred on the road to Benghazi, the rebels' de facto capital. Rebels emboldened by the international support renewed fighting in Ajdabiya, a strategic city they...