NATO says its planes have struck rebels using tanks in their fight with the government forces in eastern Libya.

Rear Admiral Russell Harding, the deputy commander of the NATO operation, says NATO had no previous information the rebels were operating tanks.

At least five rebel fighters were killed Thursday when their combat convoy was hit by a NATO airstrike. Harding says the military alliance will not appologize for those deaths.

Harding says the situation between the towns of Brega and Ajdabiya remains fluid, with the opposing forces engaged in a series of advances and retreats, making it difficult for pilots to distinguish between them.

Harding said Friday, April 8, that NATO jets had conducted 318 sorties and struck 23 targets in the past 48 hours, according to the Associated Press.