Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte, Libya’s interim rulers said.

His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and threatened the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and Yemen.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters celebrate the fall of Sirte in the town October 20, 2011. Libyan interim government fighters captured Muammar Gaddafi's home town on Thursday, extinguishing the last significant resistance by forces loyal to the deposed leader and ending a two-month siege.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters celebrated the fall of Sirte October 20, 2011.