Accessibility links

Breaking News

Pentagon: No Evidence Serbian Citizens Killed In Libyan Strikes


Bodies Of Serbs Killed In Libya Returned To Belgrade
please wait

No media source currently available

0:00 0:01:02 0:00

WATCH: The bodies of two kidnapped Serbian embassy staff members have been repatriated from Libya. The two were reported killed along with dozens of others on February 19 by U.S. air strikes on a suspected Islamic State training camp where they were being held in Libya. (RFE/RL's Balkan Service)

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Defense Department says it has no evidence to corroborate Serbia's claim that two of its citizens were killed in an air strike in Libya last week.

Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said U.S. officials had reviewed photos of the dead Serbian citizens and gathered more information about the February 19 strike.

"So far we have not seen any credible information that would indicate that these people were killed in the strike that we conducted," Davis said in a statement on February 24.

U.S. officials said the attack killed dozens of people and was primarily aimed at Nureddine Chuchane, a senior Islamic State operative blamed for two terror attacks in Tunisia last year.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said two embassy staff members who had been kidnapped in Libya in November were believed to be killed by the air.

There was no immediate reaction by Serbia to the Pentagon statement.

  • 16x9 Image

    RFE/RL

    RFE/RL journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG