Danish raids in 2011 Libya killed civilians, kept secret by Denmark

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
25 Jan 2024 14:23

For over 10 years, the Danish Armed Forces have kept their involvement in the murder of civilians during NATO's bombing campaign on Libya back in 2011 secret, but new documents reveal otherwise.

In this file photo taken on a government-organized tour, a destroyed car stands in front of a bombed home after it was raided by a NATO bomb in the town of Majar, Libya, on August 9, 2011. (AP)

After evidence emerged showing that the Danish air force was engaged in airstrikes that claimed the lives of 41 civilians in Libya during NATO's 2011 "intervention", Denmark's defense ministry said it would launch a review.

It is significant to note that this would be the first time that any of the 10 NATO country members admitted to killing civilians in Libya, as they carried out a large-scale bombing campaign.

According to The Guardian, the Danish Air Force had lied to the public about killing civilians for over 10 years. The documents, recently released due to the Freedom of Information Act, show that the Air Force, in 2012, approximately one year after the attack, concluded, privately, civilians killed by two Danish F-16 raids were among the civilians reported killed in reports published by the UN, media, and human rights organizations.

The two strikes in question occurred in June and September of 2011. The first airstrike targeted a residential compound in Surman, located about 40 miles west of Tripoli, and took place on June 20, 2011. A survivor of the attack said that the compound was solely residential, despite NATO's then-claims that it was "a legitimate military target."

On September 16, 2011, the second Danish attack targeted an apartment block in Sirte, central Libya, claiming the lives of a man and a woman who was five months pregnant.

Review of attack underway

Recently, the Danish Ministry of Defense noted in a statement that a review of the attacks is underway, even though 10+ years have already passed since.

The statement read: "The Minister of Defence has requested the Defence Command to assess whether the documents in question indicate that there were ramifications of such magnitude that an investigation should have been conducted at that time within the coalition or Nato framework,” it added.

Gregory Shupak of Responsible Statecraft, underscored, back in September 2023, that the devastating floods caused by Storm Daniel in Libya, which have killed up to 10,000 people, are both natural and man-made.

He explains that during the week following Storm Daniel, most of the media coverage cited "war" as one of the reasons the country was unprepared to deal with the disaster, ignoring NATO's role in the years of invasion that took place on Libyan soil.

Shupak added that during the NATO-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi in February 2011, US media touted claims that Libya's airforce bombed protesters despite never presenting evidence and the Pentagon reporting "no confirmation whatsoever" that it took place.

The bombing, according to him, killed thousands of Libyans NATO claimed to be saving. In addition, it allowed for tens of thousands of weapons to be trickled down through Libya, the Sahel, and even in Syria, according to Shupak.

Shupak expresses that of course NATO bombing did not directly cause the dams to collapse in Derna, but the war on Libya led to the "destruction of the Libyan state and social fabric, helping bring about years of warfare, one consequence of which has been the inability to maintain critical infrastructure."

This view, according to him, has not been expressed in any mainstream media outlets, even those that mention "war".