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Today's Paper | December 25, 2024

Published 02 Mar, 2012 06:48pm

Nato air strikes in Libya killed 60 civilians: report

TRIPOLI: A UN commission investigating war crimes and human rights violations in Libya reported on Friday that Nato airstrikes in the country last year killed 60 civilians and wounded 55 others.

“Amongst the 20 Nato airstrikes investigated, the commission documented five airstrikes where a total of 60 civilians were killed and 55 injured,” read the unedited version of the report obtained by AFP.

The commission also probed two Nato airstrikes which damaged civilian infrastructure and where no military target could be identified, it said.

Despite these findings, the commission concluded that Nato had “conducted a highly precise campaign with a demonstrable determination to avoid civilian casualties.”The International Commission of Inquiry on Libya also found that Moamer Kadhafi's regime had distorted the number of civilian casualties resulting from the air campaign.

“A number of allegations against Nato investigated by the commission were either exaggerated or a deliberate attempt at misinformation,” the report said.

The commission received “a credible report” of Libyan forces moving the bodies of children from a hospital morgue and bringing them to the site of a Nato airstrike, it added.

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