The destroyed premises of the General People's Congress, Libya's equivalent of parliament, after it was targeted by a NATO airstrike in Tripoli, on June 6, 2011. ( AFP / MAHMUD TURKIA)

NATO air strikes in Libya did not cause 'half a million civilian casualties' in 2011

This article is more than one year old.
Published on October 18, 2022 at 06:04
Updated on October 19, 2022 at 04:37
2 min read
By AFP Hong Kong

Social media posts circulating globally have falsely claimed air strikes during NATO's 2011 military campaign in Libya that led to the toppling of strongman Moamer Kadhafi resulted in more than half a million civilian casualties. While the United Nations and rights groups say the NATO air strikes led to civilian deaths, the number is far lower than the half a million alleged by the posts. A UN investigation found NATO air strikes killed 60 civilians and separate reports by rights organisations indicate there were dozens of civilian deaths.

"NATO launched more than 10,000 air raids on Libya in 2011 with over 500,000 civilian casualties," reads a simplified Chinese tweet posted on October 10, 2022.

"When they were questioned about civilian casualties they insisted that it was collateral damage and that it happens in wars," the post adds.

The Chinese post is a direct translation of a tweet by an Africa-based user that was shared more than 20,000 times.

The false claim -- also debunked by Reuters and USA Today -- has been circulating since March in English and Chinese-language posts shared on Twitter and Weibo.

A screenshot of the misleading tweet, captured on October 18, 2022

NATO, the world's biggest military alliance of 30 European and North American countries, took sole command of air strikes in Libya in 2011 under a UN mandate to protect civilians.

The seven-month campaign led to Moamer Kadhafi being overthrown.

In June 2011, NATO addressed allegations it had targeted a residential building to the west of Libya's capital, Tripoli, saying: "While NATO cannot confirm reports of casualties, we would regret any loss of civilian life and we go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties."

While the UN and rights groups say NATO air strikes killed civilians, the number of deaths that social media posts claim were caused by the strikes has been inflated.

A UN commission investigating war crimes and human rights violations in Libya reported in March 2012 that NATO air strikes in the country killed 60 civilians and wounded 55 others.

The report was published here.

Audrey Kawire Wabwire, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch, told AFP: "NATO air strikes killed at least 72 civilians, one-third of them children under age 18.

"Altogether, NATO conducted roughly 9,700 strike sorties and dropped over 7,700 precision-guided bombs during the seven-month campaign."

The organisation's full report was published here.

A spokesperson for Amnesty International, Ghina Bou Chacra, told AFP that the claim is inaccurate, but "NATO strikes did cause civilian casualties to a much lesser extent".

A report by the group here said it had documented "55 cases of named civilians, including 16 children and 14 women, killed in airstrikes in Tripoli, Zlitan, Majer, Sirte and Brega."

"Amnesty International is concerned that no information has been made available to the families of civilians killed and those injured in NATO strikes about any investigations which may have been carried out into the incidents which resulted in death and injury," the spokesperson added.

Responding to the claim that there were 500,000 civilian casualties, a NATO official told AFP: "This is completely bogus."

October 19, 2022 This article was updated to add a comment from Amnesty International.

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