Ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi has reportedly been killed in a gun battle in his hometown of Sirte.

Reuters News has quoted a senior Libyan transitional government official as saying that Gadhafi died of wounds suffered during a shootout in his hometown of Sirte, a Mediterranean coastal city halfway between Tripoli and Benghazi, on Thursday.

Transitional National Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters that Gadhafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked.

The official said Gadhafi was also hit in the head and that there was heavy gunfire against his group.

Arabic satellite TV Al Jazeera has also reported that he died during an exchange of gunfire.

AFP News earlier said that Gadhafi sustained serious wounds on both his legs and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.