Incident Code

Lib2011-130

Location

زليتن, Zliten, Marqab, Libya

Geolocation

32.466659, 14.566591
Accuracy: City

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

(Previous Incident Code: LN028)

Between seven and eight civilians were reportedly killed in a NATO airstrike on Zliten.

Antiwar wrote: “A NATO airstrike killed seven people in a hospital in Zlitan, western Libya, on Monday, according to locals and government officials. Medical equipment was visible among the twisted wreckage of the building, the Associated Press reports, after being taken on a government tour of the site.” It added that “the dead included three doctors.”

Al Jazeera said: “Libyan officials have accused NATO of killing at least eight people in an air raid on a food warehouse and medical clinic in Zlitan, east of Tripoli.

Foreign journalists taken to the town of Zlitan on Monday were unable to verify if it was a NATO operation.”

CNN later reported on the incident: “Government officials said they were looking for the bodies of three people believed to be buried underneath, and said the bodies of eight people had been pulled out earlier in the day. Journalists did not see any evidence of dead or wounded at the site.”

It also published the NATO perspective on the incident: “Responding to the Libyan government’s claims to journalists that a health clinic and food-storage facility had been hit, NATO had found no evidence to support the allegations, a NATO representative said.”

In its daily operational report NATO said it struck “3 Command and Control Node, 1 Military Armoured Vehicle Storage Facility, 2 Armed Vehicles” without mentioning civilian harm.

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Airstrike
Strike Status
Declared strike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Contested
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Civilians reported killed
7–8

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention a hospital in the vicinity of Zliten (زليتن), for which the generic coordinates are: 32.466659, 14.566591. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Military Statements

NATO forces Assessment
Known belligerent
NATO forces
NATO forces position on incident
Not yet assessed
NATO forces Strike Report
In the vicinity of Zlitan: 3 Command and Control Node, 1 Military Armoured Vehicle Storage Facility, 2 Armed Vehicles.