National Transitional Council Live Blog

The vice chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council confirmed that ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi had been killed on Friday and said the interim government would announce the liberation of Libya "within hours".

That would be a landmark announcement, after which the interim government has said it would begin the transition to democracy in the North African state ruled by Gaddafi with an iron fist for 42 years until August.

"We announce to the world that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed at the hands of the revolutionaries," Abdul Hafiz Ghoga told a news conference in Benghazi. "We will announce the liberation of Libya within hours, maybe sooner."

- Reuters

The AFP news agency reports that anti-Gaddafi fighters Wednesday appealed for help from NATO after being blasted by rockets fired by loyalist troops in Bani Walid, one of the ousted Libyan leader's last bastions.

Among 11 National Transitional Council fighters killed in the barrage was senior commander Daou al-Salhine al-Jadak, whose car was struck by a rocket as he headed towards the front late on Tuesday, NTC chief negotiator Abdullah Kenshil told AFP.

NTC field commander Captain Walid Khaimej said, meanwhile, that the fierce resistance of Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists had stalled the advance by NTC fighters in the desert town, some 170 km (100 miles) from Tripoli.

"There is always incoming missile and artillery fire. We are returning fire with heavy weapons but we are not sending in infantry. We are waiting for reinforcements to come from Tripoli and Zawiyah," said Khaimej.

"NATO is here but is not doing enough. They take out the rocket launchers firing at us, but they are immediately replaced. We need more help from NATO," he added.

The Western military alliance has under a UN mandate being giving air support to a popular revolt against Gaddafi launched in February which saw the veteran strongman toppled from power after 42 years by NTC forces last month.

Gaddafi has gone into hiding since Tripoli was overrun on August 23 but he and some of his sons are still believed by the NTC to be in Libya, possibly even in Bani Walid or in his birthplace Sirte, where his last remaining forces are putting up fierce resistance.

Jadak was one of the highest ranking NTC military commanders in Bani Walid and hails from the oasis town itself.

Two days before he was killed, he told AFP he had been imprisoned for more than 18 years for helping organise a rebellion against Gaddafi in 1993.   [AFP]

National Transitional Council (NTC) on Wednesday admitted heavy losses and hospitals full of wounded from their assault on Gaddafi hometown of Sirte, forcing them to send abroad critically hurt troops.

At least 45 NTC fighters have been killed and more than 200 wounded -- mostly by explosions or gunfire -- since they launched an offensive against Sirte last week, medics in Misrata said.

At least six explosions shook the town in the early afternoon as NATO aircraft overflew the town where forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi battled NTC fighters seeking to oust them.

A fighter from the Libyan National Transitional Council at the easten Sirte front tells Al Jazeera that there is a sandstorm obscuring visibility. He does not think that there will be any significant advance today, at least not until the wind slows down.