Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

Lib2011-076

Incident date

April 24, 2011

Location

مصراتة, Misurata, Misrata, Libya

Geolocation

32.374457, 15.087794 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between one and 14 civilians were allegedly killed by Gaddafi forces shelling on Misurata.

An Amnesty International investigation found the following: “Ahmed Ahmed al-Majdoub, a 64-year-old father of 10, was killed on 25 April at his daughter’s house in the Qasr Ahmad neighbourhood of Misratah, to the west of the port.”

The investigation quotes al-Majdoub’s son as saying: “After lunch everybody left and my father and my brother Fathallah stayed there. There had been many rockets that morning in the area but most of them fell into the sea or near the sea. At about 2.30pm a rocket struck near the house. I rushed over and found my father in pieces. One leg was completely severed and the other leg and one arm were only hanging by a thread and he was cut all over. He died almost immediately. My brother Fathallah had shrapnel injuries all over his body and was later evacuated by a humanitarian boat to a hospital in Benghazi.”

Reuters said at the time of the attack: “Speaking to Reuters by telephone, Muhammad Ibrahim, a resident of the city who visited its hospital on Monday, said that seven of those killed on Monday were civilians and three opposition fighters.

Three bodies were charred to the point of difficult identification due to the bombing on Sunday night. A ten-year-old child was killed in his sleep. But residents said that many shells fell in empty lands. They added that the bombing stopped when NATO warplanes flew overhead.”

Al Jazeera also reported on the event: “Press sources in Misrata: 14 people were killed and 25 wounded in the Qadhafi Brigades’ bombing of the city today”

The incident occured at 14:30:00 local time.

The victims were named as:

64 years old male killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Misurata (مصراتة), for which the generic coordinates are: 32.374457, 15.087794. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8 – 14
  • (1 child1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–25
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected targets
    Libyan rebel forces, Other
  • Belligerents reported killed
    3

Sources (3) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Ahmed Ahmed al-Majdoub, allegedly killed by Gaddafi forces shelling on Misurata on April 24th, 2011 (via Misurata)

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8 – 14
  • (1 child1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–25
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected targets
    Libyan rebel forces, Other
  • Belligerents reported killed
    3

Sources (3) [ collapse]