TRIPOLI (AFP) – NATO bombs destroyed Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's office in his immense Tripoli residence on Monday, while rebels pushed forward against the strongman's troops in the besieged city of Misrata.

Heavy explosions had shaken the centre of Tripoli shortly after midnight as warplanes overflew the Libyan capital.

A Libyan official accompanying journalists at Kadhafi's compound said 45 people were wounded, 15 seriously, in the bombing. He added that he did not know whether there were victims under the rubble.

"It was an attempt to assassinate Colonel Kadhafi," he affirmed.

Seif Al-Islam, Kadhafi's son, described the bombing as "cowardly."

"This cowardly attack on Moamer Kadhafi's office may frighten or terrorise children but we will not abandon the battle and we are not afraid," he said, claiming that NATO's battle was "lost in advance."

NATO warplanes had already late Friday targeted the Bab Al-Aziziya district, where the presidential compound is located.