BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? NATO said on Saturday its aircraft carried out an attack on a column of military vehicles this week that Libyan opposition forces said injured 16 of its fighters.
Rebel spokesman Farag al-Moghraby said on Thursday the air strike took place near Ajdabiyah, eastern Libya, and that six rebel pickup trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns had been destroyed.
"NATO can now confirm that the vehicles hit were part of an opposition patrol," it said in a statement after investigating the rebel report of the incident.
"This incident occurred in an area of conflict between Gaddafi forces and opposition forces," it said.
"A column of military vehicles including tanks was observed in an area where Gaddafi forces had recently been operating. In a particularly complex and fluid battle scenario, it was assessed these vehicles were a threat to civilians and they were subsequently engaged by NATO aircraft."
NATO has been concentrating the air campaign it took over in Libya on March 31 on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces but says it will target any forces it judges a threat to civilians it is mandated to protect under a United Nations resolution.
The statement said NATO regretted injury or loss or life.
NATO accidentally struck rebel positions on several occasions early in the air campaign. It said at the time that the similar appearance and equipment of rebel and Gaddafi forces in the desert terrain made targeting difficult.
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