AP reports: NATO fighter jets struck the Tripoli harbor in bombing runs overnight, damaging five coast guard boats and a warship, the Libyan government said early Friday. Reporters could see flames and smoke rising from the stricken warship into the night sky.

Mahmud Turkia / AFP - Getty Images

Smoke rises from a fire on a boat on May 19 in Tripoli after NATO air strikes targeted the port of the Libyan capital.

Darko Bandic / AP

Smoke rises from a ship that was hit in an airstrike, at Tripoli sea port early on May 20.

In Brussels, NATO on Friday confirmed that its warplanes targeted the vessels and accused Libya of using its ships in the escalating conflict, including attempts to mine the harbor in Misrata. Rebels trying to end the nearly 40-year rule of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi have been struggling to hold the Western city of Misrata against repeated attacks by forces loyal to Gadhafi.

Read the full story and see more images from the conflict in Libya in our slideshow.

Nasser Nasser / AP

A Libyan rebel inspects one of two destroyed military vehicles of pro-Gadhafi forces that rebels claim were targeted by a NATO strike along the front line near Brega on April 5.

BREGA, Libya — An airstrike hit a convoy of Libyan military vehicles moving toward rebel lines outside the eastern oil port of Brega on Tuesday, rebels said as they regrouped outside the city. The regime, meanwhile, insisted Moammar Gadhafi won't step down but said it is ready to discuss changes in how the country is governed.

Nasser Nasser / AP

Libyan rebels inspect two destroyed military vehicles of pro-Gadhafi forces that rebels claim were targeted by a NATO strike along the front line near Brega on April 5. Libya's rebel forces are looking more effective on the front and even scrapping back some of the territory lost to Moammar Gadhafi's army, but the ragtag fighters are still a long way from being able to march to Tripoli.

Backed by an international air campaign, the rebels have made inroads in recent days in eastern Libya. They advanced under artillery fire Monday and took part of Brega, an oil town that has changed hands several times since the fighting began last month.

Rebel officer Abdel-Bast Abibi said the two sides battled inside the city until nightfall, then the rebels moved back to the outskirts. It was a quiet night, but an airstrike struck early Tuesday as a convoy of eight Libyan military vehicles advancing toward the rebel positions, he said.

Mahmud Hams / AFP - Getty Images

Libyan rebels clean the road after moving one of two loyalist pick-up trucks destroyed by a NATO airstrike on April 5 near Brega.

The strike hit two of the vehicles, prompting the others to turn around and race back into the city, carrying the bodies of slain pro-Gadhafi troops, Abibi said, citing surveillance teams.

Mahmud Hams / AFP - Getty Images

Libyan rebels look at one of two loyalist pick-up trucks destroyed by a NATO airstrike on April 5 near Brega

 Read the full story and see more images in our slideshow.

Mohammed Saber / EPA

Palestinian Hamas members carry the body of senior Hamas militant Ismail Lubad, 42, during his funeral in Al Shatea refugee camp in the west of Gaza City on Saturday, April 2. Three Hamas militants were killed early Saturday in an Israeli airstrike on a car they were travelling in near the southern Gaza Strip city of Kahn Younis, doctors and Hamas sources said. The Israeli airstrike came a few days of relative calm. Last month the Gaza Strip witnessed an escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza militants, where at least 13 Palestinians were killed and more than 30 wounded. Around 30 Israelis were injured.

Ali Ali / EPA

Palestinian Hamas members carry the body of senior Hamas militant Ismail Lubad, 42, during his funeral in Al Shatea refugee camp in the west of Gaza City, on Saturday.

Ali Ali / EPA

Palestinian relatives of senior Hamas militant Ismail Lubad, 42, react during his funeral in Al Shatea refugee camp in the west of Gaza City on Saturday.

Read the New York Times story here.