Ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is believed to be hiding out near the western town of Ghadamis under the protection of Tuareg fighters , an interim government military spokesman told CNN Tuesday . `` We have reliable information that Gadhafi is protected by the Tuareg tribe located between Niger , Algeria and Ghadamis town in Libya , '' said Col. Abdul Basit . He said Gadhafi 's son Saif al-Islam is in Bani Walid , and another son , Mutassim , is in Sirte . Both cities remain contested . Basit did not say how the interim government discovered Gadhafi 's putative whereabouts , and his assertions could not be verified . The National Transitional Council has made similar claims that proved false . Ghadamis is in western Libya , on the border with Algeria . Tuareg tribesmen have helped Gadhafi loyalists escape Libya across the expanses of the Sahel . During his rule , Gadhafi often turned to the nomadic Tuareg to bolster his forces and his attempts to manipulate and destabilize the poor countries to the south of Libya : Niger , Chad and Mali . The International Criminal Court in The Hague , Netherlands , has issued arrest warrants for Moammar and Saif al-Islam Gadhafi . They are wanted for alleged crimes against humanity committed after the start of the Libyan uprising in February . After the fall of Tripoli to revolutionary forces , messages purportedly from Gadhafi were aired on Syrian-based television Al-Rai . The longtime dictator has not been seen in public for months . Libya 's new leadership has been meeting in Benghazi to discuss the formation of an interim government . Meanwhile , battles are still raging in Sirte and Bani Walid ; NATO estimates that 200,000 of Libya 's 6 million people are still under threat from Gadhafi 's supporters . Near Bani Walid 's front line , senior National Transitional Council field commander Daou Al-Salhine Al Jadak was killed Tuesday , said Abdulla Kenshill , a spokesman in Bani Walid . `` A rocket struck a truck transporting Al Jadak and six of his aides , '' Kenshill said Wednesday . `` They are all Libyan martyrs of the revolution . '' He described the humanitarian situation in Bani Walid as `` really bad '' and said 30,000 of the city 's residents had fled toward Tripoli and 12,000 toward Sabha , in the south . Neither side appeared to be making headway in Bani Walid , he said . `` There are spies among our revolutionaries who send our coordinates to the snipers and Gadhafi loyalists firing from inside Bani Walid , and the proof is that their attacks have been precisely targeted , '' said Emad Ziglam , a field commander of the Tripoli rebels fighting outside Bani Walid . `` The mistake was mixing the rebel units . We should not have allowed fighters from Benghazi among others to join in , since we do not know them all . There are definitely traitors among us . '' Thousands of people have fled the fighting in Sirte , the birthplace of Gadhafi , where the strongman retains a following . The National Transitional Council said that about 100 families left the city Wednesday . It also said Sirte was surrounded by revolutionary fighters but estimated that about 5,000 pro-Gadhafi fighters remained within the city . Transitional council military commanders Jamal al-Raies and Mohammed Ismael said its forces would wait a few days before starting any major offensive on the city in order to give civilians there more time to leave . Col. Ahmed Bani said anti-Gadhafi forces had taken control of the northern part of Sirte as well as its airport , its seaport and the Gardabya military base .
National Security Council member is killed . Colonel Gadhafi is believed to be near Ghadamis , a military spokesman said . His sons are believed to be fighting in Sirte and Bani Khalid . Interim council reports have turned out to be false before .