Nato cash call over air strikes in Libya

At least 72 people, a third of them under the age of 18, were killed by Nato air strikes, according to a report by Human Rights Watch – one of the most extensive investigations into the issue.

The New York-based group called on the Western alliance to acknowledge the casualties and compensate those who survived.

The decision by the United States and its Nato allies to launch an air campaign that mainly targeted regime forces and military infrastructure marked a turning point in Libya’s civil war, giving rebels a fighting chance.

The UN-appointed International Commission of Inquiry on Libya said earlier this year that at least 60 civilians had been unintentionally killed and recommended further investigation.

In response, Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in March that the alliance had looked into all allegations of harm to civilians and determined the sites struck were legitimate military targets.

Based on investigations conducted in Libya from August 2011 to the end of April 2012, Human Rights Watch established that 28 men, 20 women and 24 children had been killed in eight Nato bombings in Tripoli, Zlitan, Sorman, Bani Walid, Gurdabiya and Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte.

The advocacy group acknowledged the figure was relatively low considering the extent of the campaign, which the alliance has said included 9,600 strike missions and destroyed about 5,900 military targets.

In Brussels, Nato said it had carried out the bombing campaign with “unprecedented care and precision” and had fulfilled the requirements of international humanitarian law.

“Nato did everything possible to minimise risks to civilians but in a complex military campaign that risk can never be zero,” spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

“We deeply regret any instance of civilian casualties for which Nato may have been responsible.”