Bombing of Libya most accurate ever: NATO

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks during a media conference at the Residence Palace in Brussels on Monday.

NATO’s top official says the bombing campaign against Libya is unique due to the unprecedented precision of the alliance’s airstrikes.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday that no air operation in history had been so accurate and so careful in avoiding civilian casualties.

NATO has conducted 22,000 sorties, including over 8,000 strike missions, since the first attacks were launched in March.

Mr. Fogh Rasmussen says the alliance had degraded a war machine built up over more than 40 years, and that the airstrikes would continue until “the threat is over for good.”

NATO has been criticised for overstepping its limited U.N. mandate to enforce a no-fly zone and protect threatened civilians.