365betÌåÓýÔÚÏßÊÀ½ç±­

CLAIM: NATO killed tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of civilians during a 2011 military intervention in Libya.

THE FACTS: Estimates for how many civilians were killed during the NATO campaign in Libya vary, but experts told The Associated Press that figures placing civilian casualties in the tens of thousands are dramatically inflated. Nongovernmental organizations have also said that far fewer civilians were killed by the NATO airstrikes, with estimates ranging from 72 to 403.

After former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s regime violently cracked down on anti-government protesters, NATO, with U.N.-backing, conducted a campaign of airstrikes against the regime between March and October of 2011, . NATO warplanes conducted more than 9,600 strike missions, and the campaign ended after Gadhafi was ousted and killed.

In recent days, widely circulating social media posts have claimed that NATO forces killed tens of thousands of civilians during the 2011 military intervention. “The most air strikes ever launched in Africa by NATO was more than 10,000 on Libya in 2011 with over 500,000 Civilian Casualities,� said one tweet. Another Twitter user claimed that tens of thousands of civilians were killed by NATO forces in Libya while comparing the allegation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “NATO+USA+France killed 55k+ civilians in Libya because they wouldn’t accept the jihadist rule that NATO+Obama admin eventually bombed into power there,� the user wrote on Sunday. “The Russian people are correct to be terrified of NATO.�

No credible estimates support the assertions that tens of thousands of civilians were killed by the 2011 NATO airstrikes in Libya. “Those numbers strike me as wildly off. Wildly exaggerated,� said Daniel Serwer, a professor and senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Alan Kuperman, a University of Texas professor whose research focuses include ethnic conflict and military intervention, also told the AP that the claims are “exaggerated by a factor of 100 times or more.�

The U.N.-appointed Commission of Inquiry on Libya investigated some of the airstrikes and found that while NATO did not intentionally target civilians, 60 civilians were killed and 55 were wounded, . Separately, Human Rights Watch concluded in that at least 72 civilians were killed by NATO airstrikes.

In March 2021, , a group that tracks civilian harm in conflict zones, estimated that NATO strikes caused 223 to 403 likely civilian deaths. Chris Woods, director of Airwars, wrote in an email to the AP that the claims that tens of thousands of civilians were killed by NATO airstrikes is “not supported by any public claim we are aware of," adding that: “The great majority of civilians killed in Libya in 2011 also died as a result of Gaddafi forces actions."

In an emailed statement to the AP, NATO Deputy Spokesperson Piers Cazalet declined to confirm the number of Libyan civilians killed by NATO actions in 2011. “Everything possible was done to minimize the risk to civilians, but in a complex military campaign, that risk cannot be reduced to zero,� Cazalet said, adding: “It is likely some have been affected in the seven months-long campaign. We deeply regret any instance of civilian casualties.�

� Associated Press writer Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed this report.