After forty-two years of dictatorial rule, Moammar Gadhafi is killed by rebels.

On Thursday, October 20, 2011, troops captured and brutally beat former Libyan dictator, Moammar Gadhafi – all the while recording this gruesome scene. The explicit videa footage showed Gadhafi begging for life as he bleeds profusely.

The British Broadcasting Corp. reported that Gadhafi, sixty-nine, had been found hiding in a drainage pipe on the outskirts of Sirte. Having survived NATO airstrikes on a convoy in the area, Gadhafi, CNN reports, died from a head wound that he acquired during crossfire between his loyalists and troops from the National Transitional Council. Gadhafi’s son, Mo’tassim, was captured and killed as well. On Tuesday, October 25, 2011, Gaddafi and Mo’tassim were buried in a secret desert location.

As the Gadhafi regime came to an end, Libyans rejoiced. The New York Times reports that the Transitional National Council – Libya’s new provisional government – will hold an election for a national assembly within the next eight months. Current members of the council have voted on Abdel Rahim el-Keeb to be the prime minister. This next year will stand as a pivotal time for Libya.