(14 May 2012) 1. Wide exterior of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) headquarters in Brussels
2. Mid of NATO flag
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Oana Lungescu, NATO Spokesperson:
"We strongly regret any loss of life during the campaign that we may have been responsible for. As I said we have no way of confirming any figures but we have made it very clear to the Libyan authorities that we stand ready to cooperate with them in any review process they deem necessary."
4. NATO monument outside headquarters
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Oana Lungescu, NATO Spokesperson:
"The mandate that we had was to protect civilians from attacks and the threat of attacks and that is what we did very effectively. Through a campaign that lasted 7 months we conducted 9,700 strike sorties, and that operation was conducted with unprecedented precision and care."
6. Mid of NATO member country flags blowing in the wind
STORYLINE:
NATO defended its campaign in Libya on Monday, following the release of a report by Human Rights Watch which said that at least 72 civilians, a third of them under the age of 18, had been killed by NATO airstrikes during the seven-month campaign.
Based on field research conducted in Libya from August 2011 through this April, Human Rights Watch established that 28 men, 20 women and 24 children - 72 civilians in all - had been killed in eight NATO bombings in Tripoli, Zlitan, Sorman, Bani Walid, Gurdabiya and Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte.
The advocacy group noted the figure was relatively low considering the extent of the seven-month campaign, which the alliance says included 9,700 strike missions and destroyed about 5,900 military targets.
It ended after Gadhafi's death in late October.
But the group said it had documented several cases in which there clearly was no military target and criticised NATO for failing to acknowledge the deaths or to examine how and why they occurred.
NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu speaking at NATO headquarters on Monday said the alliance "strongly regret any loss of life during the campaign that we may have been responsible for".
She said that NATO was unable to confirm any of the figures given by Human Rights Watch, but said that it had been made clear to the Libyan authorities that NATO would cooperate with them in "any review process they deem necessary."
"The mandate that we had was to protect civilians from attacks and the threat of attacks and that is what we did very effectively", she said, adding that the operation "was conducted with unprecedented precision and care".
The decision by the United States and its NATO allies to launch an air campaign that mainly targeted regime forces and military infrastructure marked a turning point in Libya's civil war, giving rebels a fighting chance.
But Gadhafi's government and allies in Russia and China criticised the alliance for going beyond its UN mandate to protect civilians.
The number of Libyans killed or injured in airstrikes also emerged as a key issue in the war as Gadhafi's regime frequently exaggerated figures and NATO refused to comment on most claims, insisting all targets were military.
At one point, Libya's Health Ministry said 856 civilians had been killed in NATO's campaign, which began in March 2011, weeks after the uprising against Gadhafi that erupted with peaceful protests evolved into a civil war.
The UN-appointed International Commission of Inquiry on Libya said earlier this year that at least 60 civilians had been unintentionally killed and recommended further investigation.
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