TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan fighters have surrounded ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and it is only a matter of time until he is captured or killed, a spokesman for Tripoli’s new military council said yesterday.

The council’s deputy defense minister said, however, that Libya’s former rebels had no idea where Gadhafi was, and they were focusing on taking control of territory instead of tracking down the former leader.

Figures in Libya’s new government have given a series of conflicting statements about Gadhafi’s presumed whereabouts since the fall of the capital last month and many reports about his location have proven untrue.

Anis Sharif told The Associated Press that Gadhafi was still in Libya and had been tracked using advanced technology and human intelligence. Rebel forces have taken up positions on all sides of Gadhafi’s presumed location, with none more than 40 miles (60 kilometers) away, he said, without providing details.

“He can’t get out,” said Sharif, who added the former rebels are preparing to either detain him or kill him. “We are just playing games with him,” Sharif said.

NATO said that it had made a number of airstrikes around Sirte — Gadhafi’s hometown — on Tuesday, hitting six tanks, six armored fighting vehicles and an ammunition storage facility, among other targets.