In Libya, coalition air raids have hit Maummar Gaddafi's birth place of Sirte, a key target for westward-advancing rebels. Foreign correspondents in Sirte said, they heard several loud explosions in the city as aircraft flew overhead. A Libyan government spokesman said three civilians have been killed in the city's port. A rebel spokesman in Benghazi said, Sirte was now in the hands of rebel forces, but there has been no independent confirmation of the claim. International journalists inside the city suggested, it was still in government hands today. ‘Britain's Defence Ministry said, its Tornado GR4 aircraft carried out strikes on ammunition bunkers this morning in the Sabha region, in Southern LIbyan desert. The Ministry in a statement said, initial reports suggest that the bunkers have been destroyed and the Libyan government has been denied ammunition it uses to threaten civilians in the north. Rebels today said, they had seized the town of Nawfaliyah, west of Bin Jawad extending their advance towards Sirte.’Meanwhile, Qatar became the first Arab nation to recognise the rebel leadership, the Transitional National Council, as the official representative of the Libyan people.