Libya's Prime Minister declared yesterday that Sirte, the hometown of Moammar Gadhafi, was liberated by rebel forces.  The Libyan rebel government's National Transitional Council (NTC) is  also claiming its soldiers have shot and killed the defamed Libyan  leader who was in a convoy as his stronghold city fell. After weeks of  hard fighting, the NTC now maintains that all of Libya is under rebel  control. President Obama called the news part of a “momentous day.” Many Western officials are perhaps breathing a sigh of relief now that a necessarily 'awkward trial' for the former Libyan leader has been avoided.

Gadhafi  became the most wanted man in the world following the announcement of  Osama Bin Laden's death in May. Interestingly, Gadhafi was a member of  (and in good standing with) the UN Human Rights Council until a few  weeks before NATO's March declaration of a no-fly zone over Libya.

While the tide of war is ebbing in North Africa, tensions are piquing around the Middle East.

Six  soldiers died in Afghanistan this past week, bringing total U.S.  casualties to 13 for the month and 366 so far this year. More than $2.35  billion of taxpayer money has been spent on Operation Enduring Freedom  in the last seven days. Since last Friday, an additional $915 million  has been expended on the war in Iraq.

In Pakistan, three high profile U.S. officials traveled to Islamabad Thursday to push leaders on possible Pakistani government ties to the  Haqqani Network. The U.S. is accusing Pakistan of using the Haqqanis to  carry out covert operations against U.S. targets in Afghanistan.

It is being reported that the U.S. is commencing huge military maneuvers aimed at Iran  following last week's dubious assassination plot of a Saudi diplomat.

In Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday denounced demands by opposition leadership for him to leave power. "They don't have a culture of their own,” Saleh  said of his political opponents in a televised address. Saleh says that  opposition forces gained authority by imitating populist revolts in the  region.

Turkish  state-run television is reporting that 600 Turkish commandos, assisted  by warplanes and helicopter gunships, have attacked Kurdish rebel  strongholds in Iraq. The cross-border incursion represents a retaliatory strike by Turks who are demanding justice for  the slaying of at least 24 Turkish soldiers killed in attacks on  military and police targets along the border Wednesday. Of note are cryptic remarks by Turkish Prime minister Recep Erdogan regarding the work of the P.K.K   separatists, who've been demanding Kurdish autonomy from Turkish rule  since 1984:

"Terror is a tool in the hands of certain powers. The PKK are  subcontractors used by other forces and other powers, trying to provoke  Turkish society."

In  another cross-border military operation, Kenyan soldiers have joined  forces with Somali government troops to secure Somalia's frontier. The  joint strike comes in response to a wave a kidnappings that threaten  Kenya's tourism industry. A Kenyan military spokesman told Reuters that 73 al Shabaab rebels   were killed during artillery bombardment  and that Kenyan and Somali forces have secured three towns. According to  a senior Somali commander, the operation's main goal is to rid Kismayu,  a port city that is a known al Shabaab stronghold, of its militants.