Rebels capture Gadhafi compound

Rebels captured Moammar Gadhafi's main military compound after intense fighting.

Update at 1:44 p.m. ET: The BBC reports that looters are taking out paintings and chandeliers from Gadhafi's palace. A statue of Gadhafi was dragged out and dismantled, his head thrown to the ground.

Update at 1:31 p.m. ET: Rebel forces have blasted their way into Moammar Gadhafi's main military compound in Tripoli, driving out most loyalist troops after intense fighting, CNN and Al-Jazeera TV report.

There is no sign of Gadhafi or his family.

CNN's Sara Sidner, reporting from inside the compound, interviewed one rebel fighter who says Gadhafi loyalists threw down their weapons and fled after the initial fighting.

Sidner says uniforms and some weapons are strewn around some parts of the compound.

CNN footage shows swarms of rebels firing weapons into the air in celebration. Other scenes show rebel troops and what appear to be ordinary Libyans looting buildings in the compound. Jubilant Libyans pushed Gadhafi's car toward the gates of the facility.

Al-Jazeera TV's Zeina Khodr, also reporting from the compound, says conditions have stabilized, although there are some pockets of resistance in the area.

She says crowds of people are milling about the compound, some with cameras, shouting, "We are now free."

"Everyone has a gun here," she reports. "They are in control of this area."

Update at 11:55 a.m. ET: Hundreds of Libyan rebels have stormed Moammar Gadhafi's main military compound in Tripoli, the Associated Press reports.

Rebel sources claim they have entered Gadhafi's living quarters in the sprawing Bab al-Aziziya compound and have hoisted their flag, according to Al Arabiya.

The BBC, quoting the rebels' TV station, says the opposition fighters have hoisted their flag over Gadhafi's home.

Heavy fighting, which has been going on most of the day, has lessened, according to news agencies.