Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

Lib2011-044

Incident date

March 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

A “large number” of civilians was reported killed in NATO airstrikes on Sirte, according to the Gaddafi regime.

Mohamed Abd El Rahman reported on Facebook that “the Libyan regime said that the coalition launched raids on Tripoli and Zuwara and Misurata (west) and Sirte since Saturday and targeted Sirte on Monday, especially the airports, which led to the death of ‘a large number of civilians’.”

Another source only mentioned British airstrikes on Sirte, but made no mention of civilian harm.

According to independent monitors, numbers of civilian casualties reported by the Gaddafi regime were significantly inflated throughout the NATO intervention.

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 type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    10 – 20
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected belligerent
    NATO forces
  • Suspected target
    Gaddafi forces

Sources (5) [ collapse]

NATO forces Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    10 – 20
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected belligerent
    NATO forces
  • Suspected target
    Gaddafi forces

Sources (5) [ collapse]