By Libya Herald reporter.
![Libya Body Count reports 518 violent deaths in Libya in the first quarter of . . .[restrict]2015 (Graphic: Libya Body Count).](http://www.libyaherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/198-Bodycount-518-deaths-in-2015-1st-Q-010415.png)
Tunis, 3 April 2015:
There were at least 518 violent deaths recorded in Libya in the first quarter of 2015, the NGO Libya Body Count reports.
There were 165 recorded deaths in January, 219 in February and 134 in March, the NGO reports. This compares with 140 deaths reported by the NGO for the first quarter of 2014
There were 2,825 total violent deaths reported by the NGO in 2014.
As was the case in 2014, by far the largest number of violent deaths recorded by the NGO in Libya were in the eastern city of Benghazi (175), followed by the troubled eastern city of Derna (54) and Sirte (50) where on-off clashes are taking place between IS forces and Tripoli-backed militias.
The capital Tripoli, with an estimated population of 2 million has in comparison only 28 recorded violent deaths.
Putting the numbers in perspective in relation to Libya’s population of 6.6 million, Libya Body Count reports that the recorded death figures for 2014 give Libya a homicide rate of 45.8 per 100,000. This compares to Arab Spring neighbour Tunisia of only 2.2 and Egypt of only 3.4. [/restrict]
