Heavy explosions have rocked Libya's capital as NATO forces renewed attacks on government forces in the city.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (L) is served by a man as he meets with leaders of the Social Committee of the People, hours after NATO forces flatten a building inside his Bab al-Aziziyah compound, in a pitched tent in Tripoli in this still image taken from video April 25, 2011. Gaddafi was unhurt in a NATO airstrike on his Bab al-Aziziyah compound early on Monday that left three people dead, a government spokesman said.[Xinhua]

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces increased their shelling and use of tank fire in residential areas of the city, regional broadcaster Al Jazeera reported.

NATO bombed Gaddafi's Tripoli residence early Monday morning in an attack described by the Libyan government as an attempt on Gaddafi's life.

The overnight airstrike killed three people and wounded 45 others, but Gaddafi himself was safe, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said.

Gaddafi's office in the compound, where he often held ministerial and other meetings, was destroyed along with another multi-story structure.

But White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday the attacks were not an attempt by NATO to effect regime change in Libya.

"It is certainly not the policy of the coalition, of this administration, to decapitate, or to effect regime change in Libya by force," he told reporters.

He insisted the goal of the military mission remained "clear," which was to "protect the civilian population, enforce the no-fly zone, and enforce the arms embargo."

Carney avoided getting further into Monday's bombing by referring reporters to NATO about the "specific decisions in terms of bombing missions."