Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi vowed a "long war" against the international military force that struck at his forces with air strikes and dozens of cruise missiles that shook the Libyan capital early on Sunday with the sound of explosions and anti-aircraft fire.

A tank belonging to forces loyal to Muammar Gadhafi explodes after an air strike by coalition forces on a road leading to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Sunday. [Photo/Agencies]

State television said 64 people died in the US and European strikes, which marked the widest international military effort since the Iraq War and came as the rebels saw a month's worth of gains reversed by Gadhafi's overwhelming firepower.

In Benghazi, the rebel capital and the first city to fall to the uprising that began on Feb 15, people said the strikes happened just in time. Libyan government tanks and troops had reached the outskirts of the city on Saturday.

In a phone call to state television, Gadhafi said he would not let up on the rebel-held city and said the government had opened up weapons depots to all Libyans, who were now armed with "automatic weapons, mortars and bombs". State television said Gadhafi's supporters were converging on airports as human shields.

"We promise you a long war," he said.

The television station carried only the sound of Gadhafi's voice, without pictures. "You are terrorists. You are fighting a people that hasn't invited you. Libya has become a hell in the face of enemies. This is an unjustified aggression. We will not leave our land and we will liberate it," Gadhafi said.

"We will not let America and France and Britain or allied forces enjoy our oil," he said. "You will be defeated and you will withdraw."

Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya for 41 years, said the international action against his forces was unjustified, calling it "simply a colonial crusader aggression that may ignite another large-scale crusader war".

"This is a crusader war against the Muslim people," he said.

The US military said 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from American and British ships and submarines at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force. French fighter jets fired the first salvos, carrying out several strikes in the rebel-held east, while British fighter jets also bombarded the North African nation.

US President Barack Obama reiterated that he would not send American ground troops.