Cruise missile strikes Gadhafi compound
Fighter jets also destroyed a line of tanks moving on the rebel capital. The U.S. said the international assault would hit any government forces attacking the opposition.
Jubilant rebels said they expected to bring Gadhafi down in a matter of days.
Meantime, U.S. military officials told NBC News that Gadhafi's chief of staff has ordered that bodies be removed from morgues and placed at a bombing site in Bab al Azaziya to make it appear the dead had been killed by coalition airstrikes.
The site, which the U.S. insists was a legitimate military target, was bombed Sunday and military intelligence reported no sign of civilian casualties.
According to intelligence reports, once the bodies are in place, international media will to be taken to the site to report the alleged atrocity.
