Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is dead.

Libyan provisional government forces killed Gadhafi Thursday in a final assault on his coastal hometown of Sirte, seven months after launching an uprising against his four-decade autocratic rule.

The head of Libya's National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, confirmed Gadhafi's death at a news conference in Tripoli. He was 69 years old. The United States says it received confirmation of his death from Libyan officials.

Video footage broadcast on global television networks showed Gadhafi's bloodied corpse lying on the ground, surrounded by NTC forces who took custody of the body.

The circumstances of Gadhafi's killing were not clear. NTC fighters said Gadhafi was found hiding under ground and was shot and killed as they crushed remaining resistance by Gadhafi loyalists in Sirte. NATO said its warplanes attacked two vehicles of pro-Gadhafi forces that were maneuvering around Sirte on Thursday.

NTC fighters celebrated the fall of Sirte by firing shots into the air and hoisted Libya's new national flag. NTC officials have said they will declare the country liberated after Sirte is fully under their control.