The British government has come under intense pressure over its response to the crisis in Libya as ministers prepared to dispatch a team of military officers to advise rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi's forces and the RAF stepped up air strikes.

Nato commanders said the alliance was extending Nato's targets in Libya to include small satellite communications systems and telephone exchanges in strikes described by defence officials as marking a clear "shift" in targeting policy. MPs expressed deep concern about mission creep.

The UN appealed for a ceasefire in Misrata, saying at least 20 children had been killed in attacks by government forces on rebel-held parts of the city, but senior Nato officers admitted air strikes could do little on their own to prevent a worsening crisis there.

Officials from countries engaged in the bombing campaign made it clear the situation is becoming increasingly difficult. Military action is not securing their goal, the end of the Gaddafi regime, while more direct intervention would be unpopular at home and might breach UN security council resolutions on Libya.

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