Gaddafi captured in Sirte, and is wounded: reports

Muammar Gaddafi has been captured in Sirte, Libya, after transitional forces wrested control of the desert town where the deposed Libyan leader was born, National Transitional Council (NTC) leaders have claimed.

Reuters reports that Gaddafi is captured and wounded in both legs, citing a senior NTC official. Gaddafi has been in hiding since being toppled by rebels in August after 42 years in power.

"He's captured. He's wounded in both legs," NTC official Abdel Majid told Reuters. "He's been taken away by ambulance."

According to BBC News, a soldier who claims to have captured Gaddafi said the colonel had shouted, "Don't shoot!"

Another NTC official, Mohamed Leith, told Agence France-Presse that Gaddafi was "seriously wounded" but still breathing. 

"He has been captured. He is badly wounded, but he is still breathing," Leith told AFP.

Reuters has reported Gaddafi is dead after being seriously wounded in his capture, but this has not been independently confirmed.

According to Reuters, the NTC official said Gaddafi was wounded in the head, as well as in both legs, and died while being captured.

So far there has been no independent confirmation of these reports.

A pro-Gaddafi TV website has denied the reports that the deposed Libyan leader had been killed or captured, saying that he "is in good health," according to AFP.

"The reports peddled by the lackeys of NATO about the capture or death of the brother leader, Muammar Gaddafi, is baseless," said Al Libiya television.

Libyan TV is also reporting that Gaddafi was captured Thursday in Sirte, according to Al Jazeera.

More from GlobalPost: Libya: Sirte liberated by anti-Gaddafi forces

Al Jazeera reports that Moussa Ibrahim, former spokesman for Gaddafi's government, was also captured near Sirte.

Sirte fell earlier Thursday to NTC forces, following weeks of intense fighting.