Libya's transitional government soldiers have taken full control of Sirte, the last city where Gaddafi loyalists had remained holed up, eyewitnesses and reporters say. They say the final push lasted about 90 minutes on Thursday morning. Government soldiers have been engaged in a fierce battle for Sirte - Col Muammar Gaddafi's hometown - for weeks. Some Gaddafi loyalists are still resisting government forces in the town of Bani Walid, south-east of Tripoli. A BBC reporter on the outskirts of Sirte - about 360km (220 miles) east of the capital - could not confirm that the city had fallen, saying the situation was very confused. The fall, if confirmed, represents a very significant moment in the overthrow of Col Gaddafi. The NTC has said that this would be the point at which it would declare Libya liberated. The transitional authorities have said a new government would then be formed within a month, and the current administration would resign. Loyalists'captured' Fighters supporting the National Transitional Council (NTC) had been facing heavy resistance from snipers in the centre of Sirte. But on Thursday morning, the head of government operations in the eastern half of the city told Reuters news agency: "Sirte has been liberated." "There are no Gaddafi forces any more," Col Yunus al-Abdali added. "We are now chasing his fighters who are trying to run away." At least 16 pro-Gaddafi fighters were captured, along with ammunition and trucks loaded with weapons, the Associated Press reported. Col Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years, was ousted in August, when rebel forces captured Tripoli. His whereabouts remain unknown. Several of his family member are in hiding or have fled the country.