Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

Lib2011-025

Incident date

February 26, 2011

Location

ميدان الشهداء, Martyrs' Square, Al Zawiya, Libya

Geolocation

32.752250, 12.718912 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Nearby landmark level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On February 26th, 2011, 50 civilians were reported killed and another 50 wounded as a result of heavy artillery shelling on the city of al-Zawiya by Gaddafi forces. Thirty of the wounded were taken to another location, though no other information was provided about casualties.

Al-Jazeera was the only source to report on the strike, quoting a local resident as stating that “mercenaries loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi killed at least 50 civilians in heavy artillery shelling during violent clashes last night with opponents of the regime, while about 50 others were wounded and 30 people were taken to an unknown destination.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    50
  • Civilians reported injured
    50
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Gaddafi Forces
  • Suspected target
    Libyan rebel forces

Sources (1) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention Martyrs’ Square (ميدان الشهداء ) being struck in the city of Zawiya (الزاوية‎), for which the general coordinates are: 32.752250, 12.718912. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Gaddafi Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Gaddafi Forces
  • Gaddafi Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    50
  • Civilians reported injured
    50
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Gaddafi Forces
  • Suspected target
    Libyan rebel forces

Sources (1) [ collapse]

Incident Code

Lib2011-052

Incident date

March 29, 2011

Location

مصراتة, Misurata, Libya

Geolocation

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

Airwars assessment

At least 18 civilians were allegedly killed by Gaddafi forces artillery shelling on Misurata.

According to Al Jazeera: “In Misurata, the rebels announced that Gaddafi forces had killed more than 18 civilians on Tuesday, and that government forces were still bombing the city and clashing with the fighters.”

Deutsche Welle wrote: “The forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi’s regime advanced today, Tuesday, backed by tank shells, into Misurata (150 km east of Tripoli), some areas of which are still under the control of the rebels, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council told AFP. “Misrata is in danger. The criminal forces (Muammar Gaddafi) are advancing inside the city and the tanks are shelling indiscriminately,” said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified. The spokesman added that the pro-regime forces only control the northwestern part of the city.”

DW added that “a medical source in the city of Misurata announced that the forces loyal to the Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had killed at least 142 people and wounded more than 1,400 people during their offensive against the rebels in the city, according to the French news agency. ‘Since March 18, we have received at least 142 dead,’ said the source, who declined to be identified. ‘We are unable to count the wounded, but we have exceeded 1,400 people, more than ninety of them are in critical condition,’ he added. He indicated that a Turkish ship is expected to arrive during the day to transport about fifty wounded people.” It unclear if these were civilians or rebels.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    18
  • 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 attacker
    Gaddafi Forces
  • Suspected targets
    Libyan rebel forces, Other

Sources (2) [ collapse]

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.

Gaddafi Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Gaddafi Forces
  • Gaddafi Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    18
  • 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 attacker
    Gaddafi Forces
  • Suspected targets
    Libyan rebel forces, Other

Sources (2) [ collapse]