Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

LC101

Incident date

January 19, 2019

Location

قصر بن غشير, Qasr Bin Gashir, Tarabulus, Libya

Geolocation

32.688716, 13.173889 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

The journalist Mohamed Ben Khalifa was reportedly killed in indiscriminate artillery shelling while covering militia clashes in the south of Tripoli.

Reuters reported that “Mohamed Ben Khalifa died of a random shell in the Libyan capital while covering the clashes.”

Al Jazeera added: “Ben Khalifa died while accompanying a militia patrolling the Qaser Bin Ghashir area south of Tripoli, according to Hamza Turkia, a freelance journalist.”

Ben Khalifa’s death sparked widespread attention on social media with plenty of other Libyan and international sources reporting on the incident.

Local reports of the clashes point at GNA-affiliated militias or the 7th Brigade as the perpetrator of the shelling.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Mohamed Ben Khalifa
Adult male Journalist killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Qasr Bin Gashir (قصر بن غشير), for which the generic coordinates are: 32.688716, 13.173889. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Government of National Accord, 7th Brigade

Sources (9) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (6) [ collapse]

  • Protests following the killing
  • Picture of the victim
  • Another picture of the victim (via Ebadi el-Mas)
  • Another picture of the victim (via Ebadi al-Mas)
  • Picture from the funeral (via Ebadi el-Mas)
  • Another picture from the funeral (via Ebadi el-Mas)

Government of National Accord Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Government of National Accord
  • Government of National Accord position on incident
    Not yet assessed

7th Brigade Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    7th Brigade
  • 7th Brigade position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Government of National Accord, 7th Brigade

Sources (9) [ collapse]