History was made in Libya on Thursday when Libyan rebel forces captured and killed one of the world's longest-ruling-dictators and the man who called himself the "king of kings of Africa," former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi outside of his hometown of Sirte. Forty-two years of tyranny were effectively brought to an end after Gadhafi was reportedly killed in crossfire between his loyalist forces and National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters who attacked the former leader's last stronghold of resistance in Sirte. Just two months earlier, Gadhafi was ousted by his own people in an uprising that began in February and turned into a bloody civil war. After rebels took over the capital of Tripoli in August, Gadhafi was sent fleeing. His loyalist forces mounted fierce resistance in several areas, including in Sirte, therefore preventing Libya's new leaders from declaring full victory in the eight-month civil war. In a video clip filmed by one of the rebels, which was broadcast on media outlets around the world, Gadhafi was seen wounded, battered and dazed as he was lowered from a vehicle belonging to rebel forces near his coastal hometown, with several rebels surrounding him. Despite calls by some of the rebels to keep Gadhafi alive, others in the crowd began to attack the former dictator, who in the past was famously referred to as the "mad dog of the Middle East" by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Immediately afterwards, Gadhafi was apparently shot in the head and killed in the crossfire, thus eliminating any need for a Libyan or international trial against him. The intensive hunt for Gadhafi began Thursday morning. After rebels gained control over large parts of Sirte, the former dictator and his pre-revolutionary colleague, former Libyan defense minister Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, attempted to escape westward in a convoy of about 15 vehicles equipped with weapons and ammunition and guarded by loyalist bodyguards. The convoy managed to make it only three kilometers west of Sirte before coming under attack by NATO forces. France said its aircraft struck military vehicles belonging to Gadhafi forces at about 8:30 a.m., but said it was unsure whether the strikes had killed the former leader. A NATO official said the convoy was hit either by a French plane or a U.S. Predator drone. Two miles west of Sirte, 15 pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns lay burnt out, smashed and smouldering next to an electricity substation 20 meters from the main road. Inside the trucks still in their seats sat the charred skeletal remains of drivers and passengers killed instantly by the strike. Other bodies lay mutilated and contorted strewn across the grass. Some 50 bodies in all. Fighters on the ground said Gadhafi and a handful of his men appeared to have run through a stand of trees and taken refuge in the two drainage pipes, but rebel forces spotted them and began chasing them down. "At first we fired at them with anti-aircraft guns, but it was no use," said Salem Bakeer, while being feted by his comrades near the road. "Then we went in on foot. "One of Gadhafi's men came out waving his rifle in the air and shouting surrender, but as soon as he saw my face he started shooting at me," he told Reuters. "Then I think Gadhafi must have told them to stop. 'My master is here, my master is here,' he said, 'Moammar Gadhafi is here and he is wounded,'" said Bakeer. "We went in and brought Gadhafi out. He was saying 'What's wrong? What's wrong? What's going on-' Then we took him and put him in the car," Bakeer said. At the time of his capture, Gadhafi was already wounded with gunshots to his leg and to his back, Bakeer said. Other government fighters who said they took part in Gadhafi's capture, separately confirmed Bakeer's version of events, though one said Gadhafi was shot and wounded at the last minute by one of his own men. "He called us rats, but look where we found him," said Ahmed al-Sahati, a 27-year-old government fighter, standing next to two stinking drainage pipes under a six-lane highway near Sirte. Transition government to announce Libya's liberation On the way back to Sirte, the rebels, consumed with anger, lynched Gadhafi, according to reports. Immediately after his death, jubilant rebels showed off a golden gun which they claimed belonged to Gadhafi. Former Defense Minister Jabr was captured alive in the same place where Gadhafi hid, but shortly afterward, the NTC declared him dead. Joyous government fighters fired their weapons in the air, shouted "Allahu Akbar" and posed for pictures. Others wrote graffiti on the concrete parapets of the highway. One said simply: "Gadhafi was captured here." An NTC official told Reuters that the rebels had Gadhafi's body and they planned to take it to a secret location for security reasons. Reports also emerged Thursday that the NTC plans to throw Gadhafi's body into the ocean so that there would not be a burial site for him which could become a pilgrimage site. Next week, the NTC also plans to announce Libya's liberation and the start of a "democratic transition period." The announcement will be made in the city of Benghazi, where the revolution against Gadhafi first began. Speculation over the fate of Gadhafi's sons With news of Gadhafi's death Thursday, conflicting reports began surfacing Thursday about the fate of two of the former dictator's sons, Saif al-Islam and Mutassim Gadhafi. Unlike the rest of the tyrant's family who fled to Algeria and Niger, the two sons remained with their father in Libya to fight against the rebel forces. Libyan Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam told AP that Muatassim Gadhafi, who served as a former national security adviser for his father, was killed in Sirte. Meanwhile, NTC officials claimed that Saif al-Islam, who was marked as Gadhafi's successor, was captured by rebel forces and taken to the hospital after being wounded in the attack on his father's convoy. However, another government official, Abdelmajid Saif al-Nasr told Al-Jazeera that the son had not been captured, and managed to escape from the Bani Walid area in the Misrata district to the Libyan desert, "but we will capture him soon." Obama: "The dark shadow of tyranny has been lifted" Disturbing images of Gadhafi's final moments drew several reactions from world leaders on Thursday, with U.S. President Barack Obama saying "This marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya who now have the opportunity to determine their own destiny in a new and democratic Libya." "For four decades, the Gadhafi regime ruled the Libyan people with an iron fist. Basic human rights were denied. Innocent civilians were detained, beaten and killed. And Libyas wealth was squandered. The enormous potential of the Libyan people was held back, and terror was used as a political weapon," Obama said. "Today, we can definitively say that the Gadhafi regime has come to an end. This is a momentous day in the history of Libya. The dark shadow of tyranny has been lifted." Speaking about Libya's road to democracy, the U.S. president said, "There will be difficult days ahead. But the United States, together with the international community, is committed to the Libyan people. You have won your revolution. And now, we will be a partner as you forge a future that provides dignity, freedom and opportunity." Obama also sent a message to other leaders in the region who continue to crush uprisings in their own countries. "Todays events prove once more that the rule of an iron fist inevitably comes to an end. Across the Arab world, citizens have stood up to claim their rights. Youth are delivering a powerful rebuke to dictatorship. And those leaders who try to deny their human dignity will not succeed." After delivering his speech, Obama discussed Gadhafi's death with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Councellor Angela Merkel, and the three leaders "welcomed the end of the Gadhafi regime and agreed that it is an extraordinary day for the NATO-led coalition and above all the Libyan people," an official statement said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton learned of Gadhafi's death as she was preparing for an interview with CBS. Clinton looked at a message she received to her phone, and exclaimed, "Wow!" Commenting on Friday on the Libyan dictator's death, Clinton said, "The death of Colonel Gadhafi has brought to a close a very unfortunate chapter in Libya's history. But it also marks the start of a new era for the Libyan people, and it is our hope that what I saw in Tripoli on Tuesday first hand, the eagerness of Libyans to building a new democracy, can begin in earnest." British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was the first leader to react to Gadhafi's death said it was a time to remember Gadhafi's victims, including British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, killed by a shot fired from Libya's embassy in London in 1984, and the people who died in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. "I'm proud of the role that Britain has played in helping them to bring that about, and I pay tribute to the bravery of the Libyans who helped to liberate their country," Cameron added. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who used to be Gadhafi's friend and ally, said Thursday the famous Latin phrase, "So the glory of this world passes away," and added that "the war in Libya is over." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also praised Gadhafi's death, saying "This day marks a historic transition for Libya. In the coming days, we will witness scenes of celebration as well as grief for those who lost so much. Now is the time for all Libyans to come together. Libyans can only realize the promise of the future for national unity and reconciliation. Combatants on all sides must lay down their arms in peace. This is the time for healing and rebuilding, for generosity of spirit, not for revenge."