Libya Rebels: NATO Accidentally Killed 12 of Our Fighters

A NATO airstrike has accidentally killed up to 12 Libyan rebels in an apparent case of mistaken friendly fire that rebel commanders say could have been avoided.

At first, Libyan rebels who've been pleading for more help from NATO in battling Moammar Gadhafi's forces were hesitant to even admit the deaths from Wednesday's NATO airstrike in Misrata. But as the bodies piled up, rebel commanders acknowledged that they believe NATO mistakenly fired on their men. NATO said it was looking into the claim.

Journalist Marie Colvin, of London's Sunday Times newspaper, counted 11 bodies herself, CNN reported. She was in downtown Misrata and received reports from rebel commanders about the attack, which took place on the Mediterranean coast just east of a large steel plant in Misrata. The strike was by a single NATO warplane, and there were no other aircraft in the sky at the time, survivors said.

A grieving rebel commander, Abdullah Mohammed, gave The New York Times a slightly different location for the NATO airstrike, saying it targeted a salt factory where rebels had taken refuge from attacks by pro-Gadhafi forces. Mohammed said the rebels moved into the salt factory on Tuesday and informed NATO of their location. They were still inside when a NATO warplane attacked the following day.

"We stayed in exactly the same place," Mohammed said. "And they hit it."

He put the death toll at 12, with five others wounded.

Mohammed and other survivors were initially afraid to discuss what happened with Wednesday's NATO airstrike, for fear that allied forces might pull back from Misrata. Libyan rebels have long complained of a lack of support from NATO forces, which have been careful not to use too much firepower in areas where civilians live. But NATO airstrikes have picked up in recent days.

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Photos From Libya

A Libyan man extinguishes fire at a house that was hit by a Grad rocket from Moammar Gadhafi's forces in the western city of Zintan, about 150 kms southwest of Tripoli, in the early hours of April 28, 2011 as rebels defending the city pushed back Kadhafi forces who bombarded the town with at least 20 Grad rockets.

Florent Marcie, AFP/Getty Images

AFP

Photos From Libya

Libyan rebels help an elderly woman disembark from an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) ship that evacuated 55 wounded people and some 935 refugees from the besieged city of Misrata to the rebel stronghold eastern city of Benghazi on April 28, 2011. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMMANI (Photo credit should read MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Photos From Libya

Foreign evacuees look out from the deck while waiting to disembark the Albanian ferry Red Star 1 that evacuated the injured and refugees fleeing the battered city of Misrata, after docking at the port of Benghazi, Libya Thursday, April 28, 2011. A doctor in a besieged Libyan city says a NATO airstrike the previous day killed 12 rebels. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Photos From Libya

An injured Libyan waits to be evacuated into an ambulance, on board the Albanian ferry Red Star 1 that evacuated the injured and refugees fleeing the battered city of Misrata, after docking at the port of Benghazi, Libya Thursday, April 28, 2011. A doctor in a besieged Libyan city says a NATO airstrike the previous day killed 12 rebels. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Photos From Libya

Evacuee Libyan children disembark the Albanian ferry Red Star 1 that evacuated the injured and refugees fleeing the battered city of Misrata, after docking at the port of Benghazi, Libya Thursday, April 28, 2011. A doctor in a besieged Libyan city says a NATO airstrike the previous day killed 12 rebels. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Photos From Libya

An injured Libyan wearing a cap with colors of the pre Gadhafi flag waits to be evacuated into an ambulance, on board the Albanian ferry Red Star 1 that evacuated the injured and refugees fleeing the battered city of Misrata, after docking at the port of Benghazi, Libya Thursday, April 28, 2011. A doctor in a besieged Libyan city says a NATO airstrike the previous day killed 12 rebels. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Photos From Libya

A wounded Libyan rebel disembarkes from an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) ship that evacuated 55 wounded people and some 935 refugees from the besieged city of Misrata to the rebel stronghold eastern city of Benghazi on April 28, 2011. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMMANI (Photo credit should read MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Photos From Libya

Wounded Libyans wait to be disembarked from an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) ship that evacuated 55 wounded people and some 935 refugees from the besieged city of Misrata to the rebel stronghold eastern city of Benghazi on April 28, 2011. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMMANI (Photo credit should read MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Photos From Libya

Wounded Libyan rebels wait to be disembarked from an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) ship that evacuated 55 wounded people from the besieged city of Misrata to the rebel stronghold eastern city of Benghazi on April 28, 2011. Some 935 refugees were also evacuated on the boat. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMMANI (Photo credit should read MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Photos From Libya

Rebels said Wednesday they also saw the heaviest shelling yet in Misrata by pro-Gadhafi forces battling to regain control of the town, Libya's third largest city and its business capital. Red Cross ships are evacuating frightened civilians from the city's port, with more than 600 people escaping on Wednesday.