NATO Secretary General announced that the alliance will continue its air operations in Libya until October 31

Despite the death of Muammar Gaddafi, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced that the alliance will continue its air operations in Libya until October 31 after a meeting of NATO’s governing body on Friday.

Rasmussen said the decision was preliminary and NATO would make a formal decision on the matter next week.

Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said that NATO “will now meet to decide when the mission is complete, and once we are satisfied that there is no further threat to the Libyan civilians and the Libyans are content, NATO will then arrange to wind up the operation.”

NATO also issued a statement on Friday, saying that an initial airstrike on Thursday morning was aimed at a convoy of approximately 75 vehicles leaving Sirte.

“We later learned from open sources and allied intelligence that Gaddafi was in the convoy and that the strike likely contributed to his capture,” the statement added.

The NTC said on Friday it would declare the full liberation of Libya on Sunday.