• Cleaning up after Gadhafi: masking dead bodies and uncovering gold

    Youssef Boudlal / Reuters

    A man covers his face as he walks past a truck spraying smoke to mask the smell of corpses and to ward off insects attracted to the stench in the streets of Sirte, Libya on Nov. 2, 2011.

    Youssef Boudlal / Reuters

    Libyan fighters show boxes of gold and personal items found in different houses during the war in Sirte, Libya on Nov. 2, 2011.

    By Natalia Jimenez, NBC News

    The clean up of Sirte begins. Many were left dead after the heavy fighting that took over Moammer Gadhafi's hometown in the final days leading up to his capture and death. AFP reports the city was left littered with bodies. Trucks have been spraying smoke to mask the stench and deter insects.

    At the same time, Libyan fighters uncovered gold, cash and other personal items left in homes around the city.

    For more images, see our slideshow on the conflict in Libya.

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  • Large quantities of munitions found in area south of Sirte, Libya

    Philippe Desmazes / AFP - Getty Images

    Crates containing tank shells litter the desert near ammunition storage bunkers located in the desert, 62 miles south of Sirte, October 26, 2011.

    Philippe Desmazes / AFP - Getty Images

    Piles of ammunition is seen stored in a bunker 62 miles south of Sirte on October 26, 2011.

    Philippe Desmazes / AFP - Getty Images

    A Libyan man looks at a missile in a wooden crate in an ammunition storage bunker about 62miles south of Sirte on October 26, 2011, where at least 80 ammunition bunkers are believed to be located.

    By Phaedra Singelis, NBC News

    Looks like they had plenty of ammunition left even after nine months of fighting.

  • Libyan family returns to Sirte to discover what little is left of their home

    Youssef Boudlal / Reuters

    A child stands in the middle of her room, damaged during fighting between pro and anti-Gaddafi fighters, after her family returned to their home in Sirte, October 26, 2011.

    Youssef Boudlal / Reuters

    A family inspects their house, which they had left due to fighting between pro and anti-Gaddafi fighters, upon their return to Sirte October 26, 2011.

     

  • Philippe Desmazes / AFP - Getty Images

    A National Transitional Council (NTC) vehicle transports fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi after the Libyan strongman was captured in the coastal city of Sirte on October 20.

    The last of Gadhafi's loyalists face up to an uncertain future

    By David R Arnott, NBC News

    I wonder what is in store for men like these, who stuck with Moammar Gadhafi to the very end.

    In the wake of Gadhafi's death, Human Rights Watch issued a statement urging the National Transitional Council (NTC) to speak out against revenge attacks and "end an extraordinarily long era of human rights abuses":

    The NTC should ensure that its forces treat all suspects in custody humanely and bring them before a judge, in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law.

    The people of Libya need prompt reassurance that 42 years of abuses will not go unpunished, no matter how long the process may take, but that the process will be fair and open.

    View more images in our slideshow: Conflict in Libya.

  • Libya celebrates capture of Gadhafi in his hometown of Sirte

    Esam Omran Al-Fetori / Reuters

    Libyan fighters celebrate the fall of Sirte in on Oct. 20. Libyan interim government fighters captured Moammar Gadhafi's home town on Thursday, extinguishing the last significant resistance by forces loyal to the deposed leader and ending a two-month siege. The capture of Sirte means Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) should now begin the task of forging a new democratic system which it had said it would start after the city, built as a showpiece for Gadhafi's rule, had fallen.

    From NBC, msnbc.com and news services:

    Ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi has been captured after the apparent fall of his hometown of Sirte, according to reports out of Libya.

    National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid told Reuters that Gadhafi has been wounded in both legs. But Reuters later reported that Gadhafi had died of his wounds, citing a senior NTC military official.

    Gadhafi was trying to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked, Majid said.

    For the complete story: Gadhafi is captured, Libya official claims

    View the slideshow: The life of Moammar Gadhafi

    View the slideshow: Conflict in Libya

  • Bangladeshi children rescued from besieged Sirte, Libya

    David Sperry / AP

    Revolutionary fighters run across the street under heavy sniper fire on October 17, carrying Bangladeshi children who were trapped in Sirte, Libya, during the entire siege of the city. Revolutionary fighters pushed hard on Monday to clear the remaining pockets of resistance in Sirte but their efforts to advance were hampered severely by the well trained snipers still loyal to the Gadhafi regime.

    Philippe Desmazes / AFP - Getty Images

    A Bangladeshi couple get emotional as they flee Sirte during heavy fighting between loyalist troops and National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters on October 17.

    Philippe Desmazes / AFP - Getty Images

    National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters provide displaced Bangladeshis with food and drink after they fled Sirte during heavy fighting between loyalist troops and NTC forces on October 17.

    See more images of the conflict in Libya in our slideshow.

  • Philippe Desmazes / AFP - Getty Images

    National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters rest outside a shuttered shop along a street in the town of Sirte, Libya, on October 16. Fighting around the last pockets of resistance in Moammar Gadhafi's hometown abated sharply with some besieging troops saying they were deliberately holding fire after an exodus of civilians.

    'Today Libya, tomorrow Wall Street': Graffiti in Sirte

    See more images from the conflict in Libya and the worldwide protests inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

  • Gadhafi loyalists in two small pockets of Sirte

    By Rich Shulman

    As the battle for Sirte winds down, the images become more dramatic. You can see in the third photo below how close the photographers are to the action.

    AP reports:

    Fighters loyal to deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are now holding out in just two small pockets of his home town Sirte Wednesday, government commanders said after making gains overnight.

    Gaddafi loyalists have fought tenaciously for weeks in Sirte, one of just two major towns they still control nearly two months since rebels seized the capital Tripoli.

    Fighters from the interim Libyan government's volunteer army walked slowly up the same battle-scarred streets strewn with empty ammunition cases where they had fought fierce clashes a day before. Other fighters searched the damaged houses as a few dazed civilians emerged from their basements.

    Previous PhotoBlog posts from Libya.

    Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP - Getty Images

    A fighter loyal to Libya's new regime the Transitional national Council (NTC) tries to break down a door during fighting in the town of Sirte on October 12 as they move in for the kill against Moammar Gadhafi's diehards in his hometown.


    Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP - Getty Images

    A fighter loyal to Libya's new regime fires his weapon during fighting in the town of Sirte on October 12.

    Mohamed Messara / EPA

    Libyan rebels carry an injured comrade, after he was wounded during the battle to liberate the city of Sirte, Libya October 12.

    Aris Messinis / AFP - Getty Images

    Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) soldiers capture an alleged fighter (C) loyal to Moammar Gadhafi during street battles in Sirte on October 12, 2011 as Libya's new regime forces were moving in for the kill against Gadhafi's diehards in his hometown.

     

  • Aris Messinis / AFP - Getty Images

    A Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighter inspects a room at ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi's Sirte palace, partly destroyed by NATO air raids according to fighters, on Oct. 9. Forces of Libya's new regime were on the verge of claiming full control of Muammar Gadhafi's hometown Sirte after seizing its showpiece conference center and university from his diehards.

    NTC fighter inspects Gadhafi's Sirte palace after new regime seizes conference center, university

    Reuters reports:

    Libyan transitional government forces said on Sunday they had captured landmark buildings in a thrust toward the center of Muammar Gadhafi's hometown Sirte, but were holding off an assault on its main square to allow civilians to escape the chaotic fighting.

    Taking Sirte would bring Libya's new rulers a big step closer to establishing control of the entire, sprawling North African country almost two months after they seized the capital Tripoli, but pro-Gadhafi snipers have slowed their advance.

    Read the full story here.

  • Manu Brabo / AP

    Libyan revolutionary fighters fire at pro-Gadhafi forces from behind a wall in Sirte, Libya, Saturday, Oct. 8. Rebel forces have besieged Sirte since mid September, but have not managed to penetrate the heart of the city because of fierce resistance from loyalists inside the hometown of Libya's ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi.

    Libyan rebels launch fresh assault in Sirte

    AP Reports:

    SIRTE, Libya — Libyan revolutionary forces claimed to have captured parts of a sprawling convention center that loyalists of Moammar Gadhafi have used as their main base in the ousted leader's hometown and were shelling the city to try to rout snipers from rooftops in their offensive aimed at crushing this key bastion of the old regime.

    The inability to take Sirte, the most important remaining stronghold of Gadhafi supporters, more than six weeks after the capital fell has stalled efforts by Libya's new leaders to set a timeline for elections and move forward with a transition to democracy.

    Read more here and see more images here.

  • Free from Libya prison, US journalist joins fight against Gadhafi

    By David R Arnott, NBC News

    Matthew VanDyke, an American writer and filmmaker who was imprisoned in Libya's most notorious jail for over five months earlier this year, has taken up arms and joined the uprising against Moammar Gadhafi.

    Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP - Getty Images

    U.S. national Matthew VanDyke (right) is seen at the eastern front to the city of Sirte, Libya, on October 2. VanDyke, from Baltimore, Maryland, was held in Tripoli's dreaded Abu Salim prison for nearly six months before he escaped in August to join the rebellion against Moammar Gadhafi.

    Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP - Getty Images

    U.S. national Matthew VanDyke holds a weapon at the eastern front of Sirte on October 2.

    Agence France-Presse (AFP) interviewed VanDyke on the eastern front outside the city of Sirte, one of the last holdouts of Gadhafi forces, where he was manning a heavy machine gun mounted on an open-top vehicle. He said that, though he had no formal military training, he had gained combat experience battling the fierce resistance put up by Gadhafi's forces in Sirte.

    VanDyke said Libya had always been very "special" to him and it was the "suffering of Libyans" which brought him to the country. He was jailed in March after being captured by Gadhafi's soldiers, and freed from the Abu Salim prison when rebel forces took Tripoli in late August.

    "Sirte will take a couple of weeks. Snipers are too much of a problem," he told AFP.

    "I too have had some close calls and returned fire. Those guys are diehard fanatics."

    VanDyke vowed to see the campaign through to the end, AFP reported. "My family has raised me to keep my commitments. They know I will return after the war is over," he said.

     

     

    NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel met VanDyke shortly after his release:

    NBC's Richard Engel tours Tripoli's Abu Selim prison with American Matthew Van Dyke, a freelance filmmaker who was held in solitary confinement by Gadhafi loyalists for nearly six months.

     

  • Manu Brabo / AP

    Revolutionary fighters, paramedics and wounded are seen inside a helicopter near Sirte, Libya, Tuesday, Sept. 20. Revolutionary fighters have not been able to take over central positions in Sirte. Pro-Gadhafi forces have the advantage of knowing the city and are heavily armed, making it impossible for the former rebels to stand in at night after advancing during the day.

    Libyans flee siege in Gadhafi's hometown Sirte

    By Rich Shulman

    The battle for Sirte is proving to be much different than the exuberant rush into Tripoli. Full story.