PARIS?(UPDATE) French warplanes carried out four air strikes in Libya Saturday, destroying several armoured vehicles of forces loyal to strongman Moammar Gadhafi, the French military said.

According to the army chief, a first strike took place around 1645 GMT against "a Libyan vehicle clearly identified as belonging to pro-Gadhafi forces".

Within the next hour, French Rafale and Mirage 2000 fighter jets conducted three other strikes, destroying armoured vehicles of the Libyan forces in the eastern region of Benghazi, the rebels' stronghold, the military said.

The operations are to continue through the night, the military said.