By Sami Zaptia.
London, 5 January 2017:
There was a total of 1,523 violent deaths in Libya in 2016, the NGO Libyabodycount.org reports. This is a similar number to that reported in 2015 which was 1,519 violent deaths, but much lower than the 2014 reported figure of 2,825 violent deaths.
In 2016 Libyabodycount.org reports only three Libyan locations recorded deaths over one hundred with Sirte reporting 693, Benghazi 307 and Tripoli 102 violent deaths.
Sirte, of course, was experiencing a war between the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord’s forces (Bunyan Marsous) and ISIS extremists. This war, unsurprisingly, raised Sirte to the top of the locations with the most recorded violent deaths in 2016.
| Top 3 locations of violent deaths | No. of violent deaths in 2016 | |
| 1 | Sirte | 693 |
| 2 | Benghazi | 307 |
| 3 | Tripoli | 102 |
The GNA aligned Bunyan Marsous forces in fact report that there had been 720 deaths during the Sirte campaign from May to December 2016. The war effort in Sirte alone has added nearly half (47 percent) to the 2016 total violent deaths in Libya of 1,523.
| Age group of Sirte deaths | Total | |
| 1 | 15-20 | 111 |
| 2 | 21-35 | 466 |
| 3 | 36-50 | 110 |
| 4 | 51-70 | 22 |
| 5 | Unidentified | 11 |
| Total: | 720 |
Recorded deaths during the anti ISIS Sirte war. Source: GNA Ministry of Health
It can be seen from the Libyabodycount data that the violent death rate in Benghazi fell in 2016 (307) compared to 2015 (491) and fell considerably from the 2014 figure of 1,471. This can clearly be attributed to the ’’Hafter effect’’ as the military strongman imposed a security clampdown on Libya’s second city.
However, the Hafter aligned forces are still fighting in an urban guerrilla-type war in some parts of the city such as Ganfuda and Sabri.
It is notable too that in 2016 the former violent spot of Derna has dropped down into double figures, from 145 violent deaths in 2015. The eastern city of Derna is surrounded under siege by Hafter’s forces with relatively little fighting.
| Top 5 locations of violent deaths | No. of violent deaths in 2015 | |
| 1 | Benghazi | 491 |
| 2 | Sirte | 253 |
| 3 | Sabha | 172 |
| 4 | Derna | 145 |
| 5 | Tripoli | 113 |
It is also notable that the capital Tripoli with by far the largest concentration of population has dropped to around the one hundred reported violent deaths in 2015 (113) and 2016 (102) compared to 512 reported in 2014.
| Top 5 locations of violent deaths | No. of violent deaths in 2014 | |
| 1 | Benghazi | 1,471 |
| 2 | Tripoli | 512 |
| 3 | Kikla | 181 |
| 4 | Wirshefana | 147 |
| 5 | Sabha | 134 |
