Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

Lib2011-170

Incident date

September 20, 2011

Location

سرت‎, Sirte, Surt, Libya

Geolocation

31.190547, 16.571441 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On September 20th, 2011, Reuters reported that a spokesman for Gaddafi stated that 151 civilians were killed due to shelling on Sirte.

This number was unable to be verified. Independent investigators later found that civilian casualty number reported by the Gaddafi regime were hugely inflated of fabricated.

NATO confirmed airstrikes on “1 Command and Control Node, 5 Surface to Air Missile Systems” near Sirte.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Sirte (سرت‎), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.190547, 16.571441. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    151
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Known belligerent
    NATO forces
  • Known target
    Gaddafi forces

Sources (2) [ collapse]

NATO forces Assessment:

  • Known belligerent
    NATO forces
  • NATO forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

NATO forces
Official source

In the vicinity of Sirte: 1 Command and Controle Node, 5 Surface to Air Missile Systems.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    151
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Known belligerent
    NATO forces
  • Known target
    Gaddafi forces

Sources (2) [ collapse]