The US chief of staff for the mission in Libya has insisted there have been no reports of civilian casualties caused by allied action.
Rear Admiral Hueber was speaking to reporters by phone from the command ship USS Mount Whitney in the Mediterranean.
"We are putting pressure on Gaddafi's ground forces that are threatening cities," he said. Asked if that meant air strikes, he replied: "Yes."
He continued: "Our mission here is to protect the civilian populace and we choose our targets and plan our actions with that as a top priority."
He added that allied aircraft had flown 175 sorties in the last 24 hours - 113 of them by US aircraft.
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Libyan state news agency JANA had said earlier that coalition raids on a residential neighbourhood east of Tripoli have killed "a large number" of civilians.
"The bombardments carried out by the colonialist crusader aggressors in the Tajura region in Tripoli targeted a residential neighbourhood... killing a large number of civilians," it said, quoting a military official.
Tajura was struck three times, the agency said, adding that the third raid "targeted rescuers who were trying to remove the dead and wounded from the rubble and the destruction caused by the first two raids."
Ambulances were heard in central Tripoli and in Tajura, AFP correspondents said.
Earlier, witnesses said that a huge blast was heard in a military base in the Tajura region 32 kilometres east of Tripoli and flames were seen at the compound.
Tajura is home to the most important Libyan military bases and was struck by allied forces on Saturday, the first day of the military operations launched against Libya to impose a UN no-fly zone on the country.
