Libya's National Transitional Council says it will announce a framework for the country's interim government within the next few days.

NTC spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga announced Friday that the interim government will include 22 ministries and a deputy prime minister.

Meanwhile, the NTC says it is delaying an assault on Sirte — the hometown of former leader Moammar Gadhafi. The French News Agency quotes an NTC commander as saying his forces are first trying to get families out of the Mediterranean coastal town.

Provisional authority fighters remain engaged in fierce battle in another loyalist bastion in the north – Bani Walid. NTC forces have been facing stiff resistance from armed fighters in both towns.

On Thursday, NTC forces gained control of a string of desert cities in the country's deep south including the oasis town of Sabha, which had been a Gadhafi stronghold.

The National Transitional Council said it also controls Jufra – northeast of Sabha – and the nearby towns of Sokna, Waddan and Houn.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Thursday that Mr. Gadhafi's government had stored uranium near Sabha that was left over from its nuclear program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog said the uranium is being stored in drums at the site.