NATO responds to Libya airstrike charges saying they 'struck only legitimate military targets'

Tripoli, May 15 (ANI): NATO has rejected a human right organisation's report of carrying out 'unlawful attacks' that led to dozens of civilian deaths in Libya.

It said that it had only struck 'legitimate military targets' in Libya.

A Human Rights Watch report accused the military alliance of carrying out 'unlawful attacks' that led to dozens of civilian deaths in the country.

NATO accepted the fact that its air campaign resulted in civilian casualties, but strongly denied striking sites not related to Libyan military forces, News24 reports.

"We have reviewed all the information we hold as an organisation and confirmed that the specific targets struck by Natowere legitimate military targets," a NATO statement read.

"NATO did everything possible to minimise risks to civilians, but in a complex military campaign, that risk can never be zero. We deeply regret any instance of civilian casualties for which Nato may have been responsible," it added.

Human Rights Watch, in its 76-page report, accused NATO of killing 72 civilians, including 20 woman and 24 children, in eight bombing sites it examined.

The organisation said that their field investigations found an 'absence of a clear military target' at seven of the eight sites it visited, raising 'possible laws-of-war violations that should be investigated'. (ANI)