Libya: Nato 'killed 15 civilians' in Sorman air strike

[Bosonic]

Source: BBC

Libyan officials say 15 civilians - including three children - were killed in a Nato attack on a building west of the capital, Tripoli.

A BBC correspondent taken by the Libyan government to see a compound in the suburb of Sorman says the building has been pulverised.

Nato says it is looking into the Libyan allegations.

On Sunday, Nato said a weapons failure may have led to civilian casualties in an earlier air strike on Tripoli.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13843798

[jakeXT]

1. NATO risks credibility with civilian deaths-Frattini

* Frattini says NATO must communicate better

* First time NATO has admitted killing civilians

LUXEMBOURG, June 20 (Reuters) - NATO risks losing the propaganda war to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi because of actions which have killed civilians, the Italian foreign minister said on Monday.

NATO admitted on Sunday it destroyed a house in Tripoli in which Libyan officials said nine civilians were killed -- an incident that sows new doubts inside the alliance about its mission in Libya.

"NATO is endangering its credibility; we cannot risk killing civilians," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters ahead of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg due to discuss ways to aid rebels opposed to Gaddafi.

Frattini expressed concern that NATO was losing the propaganda war to Gaddafi and that Western media reports did not emphasise enough the good work done by the alliance every day in protecting civilians in Libya.

...

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE75J0J320110620


It seemed like a cakewalk when Italy switched sides.

[Bosonic]

2. Update

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- NATO confirmed Monday that it carried out an airstrike against a high-level command and control site associated with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime -- an airstrike the Libyan government alleges killed 15 people, among them three children.

NATO said the airstrike near Zawiya followed information-gathering through reconnaissance. The target was "directly involved in coordinated and systematic attacks" against the Libyan people, a NATO statement said.

Earlier, NATO had denied the government's accusations, saying it was not operating in the area at the time. Later, it said it was investigating the allegations.

MORE: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/20/libya.war/index.html

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.