A NATO bombing blitz rocked Tripoli Tuesday while rebels in besieged Misrata said they are pushing back Moamer Gaddafi’s forces and the UN warned Libya is being paralyzed by widespread shortages

A NATO bombing blitz rocked Tripoli Tuesday while rebels in besieged Misrata said they are pushing back Moamer Gaddafi's forces and the UN warned Libya is being paralyzed by widespread shortages.
  
Jets screamed in low over the Libyan capital in the early hours of the morning, carrying out an unusually heavy bombardment over roughly three hours, an AFP correspondent said.
  
Late Monday, witnesses reported two explosions in the capital as jets flew overhead, adding that smoke was rising from a site near the offices of Libyan television and state news agency JANA.
  
The blasts came after NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said time was running out for Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, who "should realize sooner rather than later that there's no future for him or his regime."
  
Rebels fighting to oust Gaddafi said they have driven his forces back from around the rebel-held western city Misrata and were poised to make another thrust.
  
After heavy clashes, the rebels controlled a stretch of coastal road west of Misrata, Libya's third city which Gaddafi's forces have laid siege to for more than two months, forcing thousands to flee.
  
In all, the United Nations said Monday that nearly 750,000 people have fled Libya since Gaddafi's forces launched an offensive against anti-government demonstrators.

On the battle front, the rebels forced Gaddafi's troops about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from Misrata on Monday, advancing to Dafnia and ready to move on Zliten, the next major town on the road to Tripoli, an AFP correspondent said.
  
NATO chief Rasmussen said time was running out for Gaddafi, who would ultimately lose his decades-old grip on power given the "wind of change" sweeping the Arab world, the death of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and mounting pressure on the Taliban in Afghanistan.
  
Meanwhile, 70 representatives from 25 Libyan cities that have remained under the control of Gaddafi's regime, including Tripoli, pledged allegiance to the rebellion in Abu Dhabi on Monday.