Four shells exploded within minutes roughly a kilometre (less than a mile) from the residential compound in town, to which scores of rebels retreated on Wednesday, close to where five or six columns of smoke earlier rose skywards.

Ambulances raced along the desert highway, away from the front in eastern Libya back towards rebel-held towns further east and groups of rebels could also be seen moving back in the same direction.

AFP reporters said they saw smoke still pluming out of an oil facility on the outskirts of Ras Lanuf, where a series of massive explosions erupted into giant fire balls on Wednesday, but that live flames were no longer visible.

Roughly eight kilometres (five miles) east of Ras Lanuf, a Libyan fighter jet carried out an air strike that appeared to target rebel positions in the desert.

The warplane was heard roaring low in the sky before a plume of smoke shot onto the horizon. The missile appeared to land in the desert, but it was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties or damage.

"We have four injured, two of them seriously," doctor Abdul Azim al-Saiti told AFP at Ras Lanuf hospital on Thursday.

Rebels on the western outskirts of town opened fire towards a plane flying overhead with anti-aircraft gun as the loudspeaker fixed to the minaret on the mosque cried out: "God is greater, there's no God but Allah."

"They're shelling us with Grad missiles," shouted one rebel from the road, after what had been a relatively quiet start to the morning.

"I came back at 4:00 am (0200 GMT). There was still fighting and shelling until then," said another rebel fighter in reference to events overnight.

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