On 30 October, in Derna, three women and 9 children (six boys and three girls) were killed, and another two women, one man, and four children (three girls and one boy) were injured when unidentified aircraft struck a farmhouse in the al-Fataeh area, east of Derna, during a family gathering, reportedly celebrating the arrival of a newborn boy. The newborn, his mother and five siblings were among those killed. UNSMIL was unable to ascertain the civilian status of three other casualties in airstrikes carried out on the same night targeting another location south of Derna. According to reports, ambulances carrying injured civilians were denied passage at the Martouba and Kirsa checkpoints, where armed men allied to the LNA were stationed.
In terms of ERW, they killed five men and injured six men and one boy in Benghazi, demonstrating the threats posed by landmines and ERW on civilians accessing conflict-affected areas. On 4 October, a 10 year-old-boy was injured by an ERW inside his house in the area of Bousnib in Benghazi. On 16 October 2017, two men, including a Palestinian national, were killed and three others injured in an ERW explosion in Qasr Hamad street.
In two separate incidents in the neighbourhood of al-Sabri, on 22 and 24 October, two men, including an Egyptian worker, were killed and three others injured, reportedly while cleaning residences for the first time after the end of hostilities in the area.
Civilian Facilities
The attack on the Misrata Court Complex on 4 October caused damage to the first and second floors of the building.
During fighting in al-Ghrarat, a 700-year-old Sufi shrine was, reportedly, deliberately destroyed by members of the SDF. On 20 October, the SDF denied its involvement in the destruction of the shrine on its official Facebook page.
On 24 October, unknown assailants fired at the gates of the Obari hospital, without causing damage.
Attribution
The so-called IS claimed the attack on the Misrata Court Complex. The SDF armed group is believed to have been responsible for the civilian casualty in al-Ghrarat. The Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council and allies are believed to have been responsible for leaving mines and ERW in areas of Benghazi they controlled prior to their retreat.
