NATO insisted an air strike west of Tripoli hit a military target and not civilians as claimed by Moamer Kadhafi's regime, while a British air force chief warned Tuesday of Libya overstretch.

NATO, reversing an initial denial, acknowledged its warplanes early on Monday carried out strikes in the Sorman area, 70 kilometres (45 miles) from Tripoli, but said its warplanes bombed a "high-level" command and control node.

Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said 15 people, including three children, were killed in the attack, which he slammed as a "cowardly terrorist act which cannot be justified."

Ibrahim said the attack was on an estate of a veteran comrade of Kadhafi, Khuwildi Hemidi, who served on the Revolution Command Council Kadhafi created when the strongman seized power in 1969.

Journalists escorted there by authorities saw damaged buildings on the sprawling estate.

Reporters were also taken to Sabratha hospital some 10 kilometres from Sorman, where an AFP correspondent saw nine bodies, including two children. They also saw body parts including a child's head.

Canadian Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO operations in Libya, insisted the military was targeted.

"This strike will greatly degrade Kadhafi regime forces' ability to carry on their barbaric assault against the Libyan people," said Bouchard.

"Wherever Kadhafi tries to hide his command and control facilities, we will find them and destroy them."

The new Libyan claim of civilian deaths came just hours after NATO acknowledged that one of its missiles had gone astray early on Sunday, hitting a residential neighbourhood of Tripoli.

Italy warned that NATO's accidental killing of civilians was endangering the alliance's credibility.

"NATO's credibility is at risk," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

"We cannot run the risk of killing civilians. This is not good at all."

In Brussels, NATO said it lost radar contact with a drone helicopter conducting a reconnaissance flight over Libya on Tuesday.

"This drone helicopter was performing intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance over Libya to monitor pro-Kadhafi forces threatening the civilian population," military spokesman Mike Bracken said in a statement.

In Washington, defence officials said the aircraft was a Fire Scout, but could not confirm whether it had been shot down or suffered mechanical or communications problems.

Libyan state television showed footage on Tuesday of a burnt-out helicopter it identified as an Apache, reportedly downed near Zliten, 160 kilometres (100 miles) east of the capital.

The caption on the television, which quoted military sources, read: "Images of the Apache helicopter shot down by the people's army."

In London, Air Chief Marshal Simon Bryant, the deputy head of the Royal Air Force, has warned that Britain's ability to carry out future missions is under threat if its involvement in Libya extends past the summer, a report said Tuesday.

The comments by Bryant come just days after the navy chief warned of tough choices if the Libyan campaign lasts more than six months.

In a briefing paper for lawmakers obtained by the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Bryant, the air force's head of combat operations, said missions in Afghanistan and Libya were together placing a "huge" demand on resources.

"Two concurrent operations are placing a huge demand on equipment and personnel ... Should Operation Ellamy (Libya) endure past defence planning assumptions the future contingent capability is likely to be eroded," Bryant said.

Prime Minister David Cameron responded to the warnings by saying he was confident Britain "can keep this pressure up, we can maintain this mission for as long as necessary. Our allies are equally staunch."

Meanwhile senior Libyan rebel leader Mahmud Jibril arrived in China on Tuesday as Beijing intensifies its involvement in efforts to resolve the crisis in the war-torn country.

Jibril, the top foreign affairs official in the Libyan opposition's National Transitional Council (NTC), will meet with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during his two-day visit, ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.

"China's immediate task is to promote peace and encourage talks," Hong said, adding that the situation in the north African state "should not be left as it is anymore".

"The Libyan crisis has lasted for four months -- during this period of time, the people of Libya have suffered to the fullest extent the chaos caused by war, and infrastructure was greatly damaged," Hong said.

"China expresses great concern in this regard," he added, reiterating Beijing's calls for a ceasefire and negotiations "as soon as possible" with an eye to a political resolution to the crisis.

In other developments, Human Rights Watch said Kadhafi forces have laid land mines in Libya's Nafusa Mountains to counter rebel attacks there.

The mountains, which lie to the south of Tripoli, have been the site of clashes between the two sides, as the rebels attempt to edge toward the capital.

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