NATO launched airstrikes on Friday against pro-Gadhafi forces in the region around the Libyan dictator's hometown of Sirte, his largest remaining stronghold in the embattled country, as the loyalists fought advancing Libyan rebel troops.

The airstrikes came a day after fierce clashes in Tripoli. On Friday, the streets of the capital city were relatively calm, but rebels said Gadhafi loyalists were still shelling the airport and sporadic gunfire was heard nearby.

NATO targeted 29 vehicles mounted with weapons near Sirte, which is 400 kilometres east of Tripoli and a British warplane struck a large bunker in the city. Rebels are struggling to gain control of the city but expect fierce resistance from Gadhafi-loyal tribes and townspeople.

Officials said that the rebel leadership is working behind the scenes to try to avoid the bloodshed that occurred in the occupation of Tripoli, but the two main tribes have rejected negotiation efforts.

British Defense Secretary Liam Fox told The Associated Press that NATO would continue to strike at the Gadhafi forces' military capability.

"The regime needs to recognize that the game is up," Fox said.

Officials said that NATO also bombed surface-to-air missile facilities near Tripoli.

Christian Luprecht, an associate professor at the Royal Military College in Trenton, Ont., said it's important that the international community is involved to ensure that Gadhafi doesn't use his vast resources to strike back or to escape.

"We don't want them used on population on site or on Western populations in a terrorist attack," Luprecht told CTV News Channel on Friday. "Nor do we want him to finance his flight with that money."

In Abu Salim, on of Tripoli's most embattled neighbourhoods, dozens of bodies laid in piles at an abandoned hospital on Friday.

The four-storey building was completely empty and it could not be determined when the men had been killed. The floors were covered with glass, dried blood stains and medical equipment.

In one hospital room, 21 bodies were piled onto gurneys and another body lies on the driveway outside, covered with a white sheet. In the yard, there is a pile of 20 decomposing bodies covered with blankets. The identities of the deceased are unknown.

The fights in Abu Salim have been particularly bloody as the rebels struggle to take complete control of the capital since sweeping into the city on Sunday.

Gunfire was heard near Abu Salim before daybreak on Friday, but a rebel said that the fighting in the neighbourhood had ended by nightfall Thursday.

About two dozen bodies, some with their hands bound by plastic ties and with bullet wounds to the head, were also found scattered on grassy lots outside of Bab al-Aziziya, Mommar Gadhafi's main military compound on Friday.

The identities of the dead were unclear. The compound was an impromptu tent city for Gadhafi sympathizers who had set up the camp in solidarity with the dictator in defiance of the NATO bombing campaign.

Gadhafi, still on the run, tried to rally his followers on Thursday to kill the rebels who waged the six-month war that brought his regime of 42 years to its knees.

"Don't leave Tripoli for the rats. Fight them, and kill them," Gadhafi said in an audio message broadcast on Al-Ouroba TV.

Tribal loyalties are strong in Libya and Gadhafi also seeded supporters in key posts and built up militias to be the final line of support for him and his sons. The Gadhadhfa and Urfali tribes remain loyal to him and many other tribes have disavowed him since the uprising began in mid-February.

The rebels have offered a $2 million bounty on Gadhafi's head and also said that they would offer amnesty to anyone who brings him in dead.

The rebels are also suspicious that Gadhafi supporters are hiding within the civilian population.

"Things are not still not stable and we are arresting anybody we find suspicious and taking them to the military council," rebel field commander Sathi Sheibi said.

The National Transitional Council announced it is moving forward with efforts to establish political control despite the violence by moving from Benghazi, the country's second largest city to Tripoli.

A minister in the rebel government said Gadhafi's capture is not necessary to set up new administration in the capital.

Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni told reporters late Thursday that Libyans can start rebuilding their country despite the chaos.

"I have a final message for everyone who is still carrying arms against the revolution," he said. "Let go of their arms and go back to their homes, and we promise not to take revenge against them."

Luprecht said Libya will also need international help to build a civil and democratic society.

"Libya's a country that hasn't really known democratic institutions, as we know it," he said. Luprecht also said the broader question is what the consequences of a democratic Libya will be for the rest of the region.

"It may be stabilizing and it might embolden the opposition in autocratic countries," he said. "Nigeria, Sudan, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, all these places are watching very closely to what's happening in Libya."

Migrant exodus

Meanwhile, migrant workers are trying to flee the fighting and a worsening food supply situation is forcing foreigners out of the country.

A second charter ship is on its way to Tripoli to rescue up to 1,000 foreigners trying to escape, said the International Organization for Migration.

The first IOM ship left Tripoli for Benghazi late Thursday with 263 people from 15 countries on board.

With files from The Associated Press