Killing of Muammar Gaddafi
The killing of Muammar Gaddafi took place on 20 October 2011 after the Battle of Sirte. Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed leader of Libya, was found west of Sirte after his convoys were attacked by NATO aircraft, as part of the 2011 NATO military intervention in Libya. He was then captured by National Transitional Council (NTC) forces and killed shortly afterwards. The NTC initially claimed Gaddafi died from injuries sustained in a firefight when loyalist forces attempted to free him, although a video of his last moments shows rebel fighters beating him and one of them sodomizing him with a bayonet before he was shot several times. The killing of Gaddafi was criticized as a violation of international law. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called for an independent autopsy and an investigation into how Gaddafi died. Events After the fall of Tripoli to forces of the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC) in August 2011, Gaddafi and his family escaped the Libyan capital. He was widely rumored to have taken refuge in the south of the country. In fact, Gaddafi had fled in a small convoy to Sirte on the day Tripoli fell. His son, Mutassim Gaddafi, followed in a second convoy. On 19 October 2011, Libya's prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, said that Gaddafi was believed to be in the southern desert, reestablishing his government among pro-Gaddafi tribes in the region. By that point, the NTC had just taken control of the pro-Gaddafi town of Bani Walid and were close to taking control of Gaddafi's home town, the tribal heartland of Sirte, east of Tripoli. According to most accounts, Gaddafi had been with heavily armed regime loyalists in several buildings in Sirte for several months as NTC forces took the city. Mansour Dhao, a member of Gaddafi's inner circle and leader of the regime's People's Guard, said that Gaddafi was "very delusional" and complained about the lack of electricity and water. Attempts to persuade him to flee the country and give up power were ignored. As the last loyalist district of Sirte fell, Gaddafi and other members of the government tried to flee. About 08:30 local time (06:30 UTC) on 20 October 2011, Gaddafi, his army chief Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, his security chief Mansour Dhao, and a group of loyalists tried to escape in a convoy of 75 vehicles. A Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado during a reconnaissance mission spotted the convoy moving fast, after NATO forces intercepted a satellite phone call made by Gaddafi. NATO aircraft then fired on 21 of the vehicles, destroying one. An American Predator drone controlled from a base near Las Vegas fired the first missiles at the convoy, hitting its target about west of Sirte. A moment later, French Air Force Mirage 2000D fighter jets continued the bombing. The NATO bombing immobilized much of the convoy and killed dozens of loyalist fighters. After the first strike, the convoy split into several groups, with a subsequent strike destroying 11 vehicles. Rebel units on the ground also