"We now realize that Kadhafi is forced to hide (from NATO air strikes) and so it's become more and more difficult for him to communicate with his troops and to order attacks on civilians," Brigadier-General Richard Blanchette told a briefing.

NATO began to turn up the heat last month with almost daily strikes in and around Tripoli, including an evening air raid on April 30 that the regime says killed one of Kadhafi's sons and three grandchildren. NATO has not confirmed the deaths.

As alliance jets blasted Libya's capital on Wednesday, Blanchette said NATO had flown 8,100 missions over Libya, including 3,100 air strikes since the start of the campaign to pressure Kadhafi to quit after 42 years in office.

Canadian fighter jets dropped 240 laser-guided bombs on the country, said the Canadian military's spokesman.

"What you heard perhaps is that there has been increased pressure in Tripoli," he said, disputing suggestions bombardments across Libya had also been ramped up.

Libyan rebels scored a major victory mid-May by taking control of the Misrata airport about 200 kilometers east of Tripoli, placing the strategic hub beyond the range of government guns after two months under siege.

"If you look at what happened in Misrata, for example, we're convinced that we've positively influenced the situation, a large number of civilians have been protected... and the Kadhafi regime's artillery batteries, which were bombarding the city daily, have been pushed back," Blanchette said.

earlier related report
Berlusconi dismisses claim NATO strike killed Kadhafi's son
Rome (AFP) May 25, 2011 - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday dismissed a Libyan claim that an April 30 NATO air strike killed one of strongman Moamer Kadhafi's sons, the ANSA news agency reported.

Berlusconi said the international coalition had no information that 29-year-old Seif al-Arab, Kadhafi's youngest son, was dead, dismissing the report by a Libyan government spokesman as "propaganda".

"In fact, the youngest son was not in Libya, and he was living in another country, and it's the same story for the three grandchildren," the Italian leader added, calling the claims "unfounded".

"This is the information of our services," he said, referring to the country's military secret service.

The Libyan regime claimed on May 1 that a NATO raid killed Kadhafi's youngest son and three grandchildren but that the strongman escaped unhurt in what it called a deliberate assassination attempt.

NATO said at the time that it had staged air strikes in Tripoli but did not confirm the regime claims.

The following day, May 2, more than 1,000 people, some firing guns and chanting slogans in support of Moamer Kadhafi, gathered in Tripoli for what was said to the the funeral of the Libyan strongman's son.

Berlusconi, in a television interview, hailed was he called the "decisive role" of the United States in the NATO operations against the Libyan regime.

He was speaking days ahead of a second round of municipal election, in which he risks losing control of his fiefdom of Milan, the country's economic capital.

Obama, during a visit to London Wednesday, admitted that NATO's campaign in Libya has limits but warned pressure will mount on Kadhafi to quit.

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