Muammar Gaddafi reportedly killed as Libyan forces seize Sirte

Ismail Zetouny/REUTERS/Files

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi speaks during a ceremony in Tripoli in this June 12, 2010 file photo. Gaddafi died of wounds suffered in his capture near his hometown of Sirte on October 20, 2011, a senior NTC military official said. National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked. 

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A graphic image of a wounded Gaddafi is at the bottom of this page.
By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor
SIRTE, Libya — Muammar Gaddafi was killed on Thursday as Libya’s new leaders declared they had overrun the last bastion of his long rule, sparking wild celebrations that eight months of war may finally be over.
Details of the death near Sirte of the fallen strongman were hazy but it was announced by several officials of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and backed up by a photograph of a bloodied face ringed by familiar, Gaddafi-style curly hair.
“He was killed in an attack by the fighters. There is footage of that,” the NTC’s information minister, Mahmoud Shammam, told Reuters.
Western powers, who have backed the rebellion which took the capital Tripoli two months ago, said they were still checking. NATO said its aircraft fired on a convoy near Sirte earlier, but would not confirm reports that Gaddafi had been a passenger.