Air strike targets Libyan rebels east of Ras Lanuf

A fighter jet launched an air strike today just metres from houses on the edge of Libya's rebel-held Ras Lanuf, where dark grey smoke rose over the highway, an AFP reporter said.

The missile exploded next to the road around 100 metres from some houses on the outskirts of the strategic oil town, which is the eastern front of the rebels' battle to end Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade grip on power.

There were no casualties or damage, apart from a big crater in the ground. Witnesses reported another air strike an hour earlier in the same location.

"So far today we have not treated any casualties," said Doctor Yusuf al-Badri, who was stationed with an ambulance and another colleague at the main rebel checkpoint on the eastern outskirts of Ras Lanuf.

Libyan jets have carried out daily strikes in the fight to put down the revolt and while most have missed their targets, a father and a son were wounded in one such attack at Ras Lanuf yesterday.

An AFP reporter saw a thin rebel presence the Ras Lanuf checkpoint, where about a dozen rebels manned five anti-aircraft guns, which they fired off after the air strike.