By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 2 October 2017:
Two children were among the dozen civilians to die in Libya during September according to UNSMIL’s latest figures for non-combatant casualties. Almost half the 28 injured were also children.
Unexploded ordnance, which the UN calls explosive remnants of war (ERW), was responsible for five dead and five injured civilians. However, gunfire killed four and injured six more. UNSMIL seeks to cross-check each casualty report. It admitted that it could not establish the causes of three other civilian deaths and 12 injuries but believed they were likely to have been caused by shelling and gunfire .
The continuing fighting in Sabratha killed five and injured 12. One of the victims was killed by shrapnel when she was in her kitchen and a man died as he walked home from his local mosque.
In Benghazi five civilians were killed and eight were injured. These included a 13 year-old girl blown up by ERW in Gwarsha while playing with her sisters aged five and three and a 13 year-old boy, who were all also injured in the blast. A boy aged 14 lost both his legs when he triggered an explosion while playing football.
At the very start of the month an 80 year-old woman was killed in her Al-Harsha home during fighting following a pro-Qaddafi demonstration. There were also a death in Zawia and another in Tobruk.
UNSMIL noted that a health professional at Benghazi’s Jalaa hospital was stabbed by “an alleged LNA affiliate” who was arrested by the military police. Sabratha hospital, which has been overwhelmed by the number of casualties from the fighting, was struck twice by shelling, which made the emergency and surgical units unusable.
