Nato yesterday acknowledged it was responsible for civilian deaths in Tripoli after Libyan officials showed reporters five bodies, including two toddlers, they said were among nine people killed in a 'barbaric' air strike.
An alliance statement in Brussels said 'Nato acknowledges civilian casualties in Tripoli strike' during action targeting a missile site.It appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure which may have caused a number of civilian casualties'.
Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim earlier accused the Western alliance of 'deliberately targeting civilians,' insisting there were no military targets anywhere near the residential neighbourhood of Tripoli that was hit overnight.
Alliance spokesman Wing Commander Mike Bracken had said Nato was looking into the matter, adding: 'Nato deeply regrets any civilian loss of life during this operation and would be very sorry if the review of this incident concluded it to be a Nato weapon.'
The admission that the civilian deaths were caused by Nato is an embarrassment for the alliance which has led the bombing campaign under a UN mandate to protect civilians.
However, officials from the rebel-held east of the country blamed Colonel Gaddafi for the deaths, alleging that the veteran strongman was deliberately using schools and mosques to stash arms.
Libyan officials showed reporters five bodies, including two toddlers, they said were among nine civilians killed in a “barbaric” Nato air raid yesterday, as pressure mounted on the alliance to allow a political solution.
Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim demanded that the alliance end its “aggression” to pave the way for dialogue, speaking just hours after organisations including the Arab League, the European Union and the United Nations highlighted the importance of “accelerating the launch of a political process” to end the conflict.Journalists were taken to the Al-Arada district of Tripoli before 1 a.m. to see rescue teams and bystanders desperately searching for survivors among the wreckage of a two-storey block of flats.
An AFP correspondent saw two bodies pulled from the rubble. Journalists were then taken to a Tripoli hospital where they were shown the bodies of a woman and two toddlers who officials said were members of the same family and had died in the raid.
Mr Ibrahim said four passers-by were also killed, bringing the death toll to nine, and that 18 people were wounded.
Libyan officials have been on the defensive over their credibility after showing journalists a little girl in hospital two weeks ago they said was wounded in a Nato air strike. One of the medical staff said she had been in a traffic accident.
The alliance has acknowledged mis-hits in the past, mostly involving rebel fighters wrongly identified as loyalist troops.