A/HRC/40/46 III. Protection of civilians and individuals hors de combat A. Indiscriminate attacks and other violations of international humanitarian law2 15. Throughout 2018, armed groups, including those formally integrated under State institutions, continued to carry out indiscriminate attacks, often in heavily populated residential areas, heedless of their impact on civilians or civilian objects. Such attacks included the use of weapons, including mortars, artillery, Grad rockets and improvised explosive devices. Explosive remnants of war also continued to cause casualties among children and other civilians, particularly in areas that witnessed protracted conflict such as Benghazi. 16. From 1 January to 30 November 2018, UNSMIL/OHCHR documented 514 civilian casualties: 183 killed (143 men, 11 women and 29 children) and 331 injured (272 men, 24 women and 35 children). The largest numbers of civilian casualties were recorded in Tripoli, Benghazi, Sabha and Derna. The leading causes of death were indiscriminate use of gunfire, shelling, explosive remnants of war, airstrikes and improvised explosive devices. 17. Incidents documented by UNSMIL/OHCHR included attacks on places of worship, camps for internally displaced persons, detention facilities and banks. For instance, in January and February, two mosques were bombed in Benghazi during prayers, causing the death of at least 31 civilians and injuring over 170. No party claimed responsibility for the attacks. On 21 February, Special Deterrence Force fighters recklessly fired shots inside a crowded bank in the area of Warshafana, killing at least two civilians and injuring two. During fighting in Tripoli in September, the Al-Fallah 2 camp hosting Tawerghan internally displaced persons was shelled, reportedly by rockets, leading to the death of 2 residents and injuring 15. 18. Hospitals and other civilian objects were also attacked. From 1 January to 30 November 2018, 27 attacks on medical facilities took place in Tripoli, Benghazi, Derna and Sabha, including instances when armed groups threatened or physically assaulted medical personnel during the performance of their professional duties, looted medical supplies and confiscated medical vehicles. 19. On 7 May, the Libyan National Army launched a military operation to oust the Derna Mujahidin Shura Council. 3 Fighting led to civilian casualties, damage and destruction of civilian objects, including schools, mosques and private homes, and the displacement of thousands of families to safer areas in the city or further afield. Most civilian casualties were caused by indiscriminate fire and unguided weapons used by the Libyan National Army in residential areas, as well as crossfires and explosive remnants of war. The Libyan National Army announced the “liberation” of the city on 28 June 2018. Injured fighters as well as their relatives thereafter remained trapped in areas of active conflict without sufficient food, water or access to medical treatment while armed groups affiliated to the Libyan National Army engaged in pillage and deliberate destruction or appropriation of property after taking control of Derna, in some cases targeting homes of relatives of alleged Derna Protection Force fighters. 20. In February, tensions between tribes and armed tribal forces in Sabha erupted into fierce fighting, lasting for some three months. The use of indiscriminate fire in densely populated areas led to civilian casualties, forced displacement and damage to civilian infrastructure. Snipers also reportedly targeted civilians of Arab, Tebu and Tuareg ethnicities in their homes, on the road, and even at the city’s only public hospital. 21. Scattered in camps for internally displaced persons and host communities across Libya since the armed conflict in 2011, the Tawerghan community was subjected to attacks 2 3 4 For more information on the obligations of Libya under international law and the legal framework in relation to the country’s non-international armed conflict, see A/HRC/37/46, paras. 11–13. The Derna Mujahidin Shura Council renamed itself Derna Protection Force.