
An injured anti-Gaddafi fighter celebrates after hearing news that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed in Sirte 20 October 2011 (Photo: Reuters)
Veteran Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi was killed on Thursday when new regime forces launched a final assault on the last pocket of resistance in his hometown Sirte, a National Transitional Council spokesman said Thursday.
"We announce to the world that Gaddafi has died in the custody of the revolution," Abdel Hafez Ghoga said.
"It is an historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Gaddafi has met his fate," he added.
He said that the fugitive former despot's death been "confirmed by our commanders on the ground in Sirte, those who captured him after he had been wounded in the battle for Sirte."
A video circulating among NTC fighters in Sirte showed mobile phone footage of what appeared to be Gaddafi's bloodied corpse.
In the grainy images seen by an AFP correspondent, a large number of NTC fighters are seen yelling in chaotic scenes around a khaki-clad body which has blood oozing from the face and neck.
The body is then dragged off by the fighters and loaded in the back of a pick-up truck.
A stills photograph taken on a mobile phone and obtained by AFP showed Gaddafi heavily bloodied but it was not clear from the picture whether he was alive or dead at the time.
In the grainy image, Gaddafi is seen with blood-soaked clothing and blood daubed across his face.
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