THE MoD has defended its decision to abort an RAF Tornado bombing mission over Libya.

Officials said the move underlined the decision to avoid civilian casualties.

The two Tornada GR4 aircraft were aborted at the last moment when intel suggested civilians were too close to the target.

However, the move could encourage Colonel Gaddafi will resort to using human shields at key installations.

But Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s willingness to use human shields will make it more difficult to strike military assets, which would otherwise be easily targeted, defence experts said.

The presence of civilians in the target area could have been confirmed by the pilots themselves, or intelligence could have been gathered from UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), or sources on the ground.

These sources could include special forces operating within Libya, local spies passing on information or even television broadcasts.

Former RAF Tornado pilot John Peters said: ‘‘When you say ’abort’ I say it was the right and professional thing to do.

‘‘The pilots did what they are paid to do. That’s where all the training comes in.

‘‘People think you are paid to fly planes. You are not. You are paid to make decisions at those vital moments. That’s why it’s so difficult to get through all the training and into a squadron.

‘‘You are bound to the decision you take. Your whole career can be on the line in those 30 seconds.’’ Mr Peters, who was shot down on active duty in the Gulf War and held captive and tortured in Iraq, continued: ‘‘In today’s world you have to be absolutely damn sure you don’t play into (Gaddafi’s) hands.

‘‘Whether the intelligence comes from the aircrew or an external agency, they will do everything possible to make sure they don’t kill civilians.’’ He said it was not unusual for planes to return without having launched weapons, adding: ‘‘I don’t think people realise how many bombs are brought home.’’ Mike Gething, contributing editor, Jane’s Air Desk, said he was ‘‘99% certain’’ the decision to abort would have been based on intelligence sources on the ground.

This could have come from special forces operatives or even material gathered from television broadcasts, he said.

‘‘There’s only one way it could be known and that’s eyeballs on the ground. Whose eyeballs and who they belong to, I couldn’t tell you.

‘‘It could be from broadcasts or it could be other sources which they won’t talk about.’’ Mr Gething said the jets would have been carrying Storm Shadow missiles capable of firing at range, meaning the aircraft would not have needed to fly directly over their targets and the pilots would not have had the opportunity to identify civilians themselves.

‘‘The fact the mission was aborted is evidence of the care that the operational commanders are taking to avoid civilian casualties,’’ he added.

Civilians forming a human shield could have been ‘‘herded in at gunpoint’’ or ‘‘Gaddafi fanatics’’ loyal to their leader.