Weapons, dying under bombs: the escalation of armed conflicts around the world causes an increase of over 83 percent in civilian casualties

ROME – Explosive weapons used in cities, villages and small towns caused 20,793 civilian deaths and injuries worldwide in 2022, up from 11,343 in 2021. The highest death toll was recorded in Ukraine, where 10,351 people have been injured or killed by the same weapons since the start of the war. In 2021 the victims in Ukraine were only twenty-eight. The dossier that sheds light on the fatal effects of explosive weapons is the result of the work of researchers from INEW of which theExplosive Weapons Monitor is part of: an international network of Non Governmental Organizations that works precisely to monitor and help prevent human suffering due to the use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas. L’INEW calls on all states to sign the “Political Declaration on the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas”, an international agreement to protect civilians from the devastating effects of explosive weapons in urban areas and which has so far been signed by 83 countries.

The wide range damage of explosive weapons. Whenever war breaks out, it is civilians who pay the brunt of the price. And the situation worsens when explosive weapons are dropped on heavily populated cities and territories in the course of the conflict. “We see a disturbing pattern of damage, extending far beyond the area of ​​the attack,” explains Katherine Young, research coordinator at theExplosive Weapons Monitor. Not only do explosive weapons kill and maim people, they cause extensive damage to schools, hospitals, clinics, power lines, water supplies and essential infrastructure. The consequences most often extend well beyond the time of the conflict, aggravating the suffering of those who are already living a difficult life due to the bombings.

Modern wars. They are increasingly fought in urban areas, which are targeted by weapons that are in theory designed to hit military targets on the battlefield. Among these instruments of death are rockets, heavy artillery, missiles: all weapons that have a large radius of explosion and destruction. Bombing populated areas from afar often leads to the pulverization of homes, schools, hospitals, impacting education, health care and many other essential services long after conflicts have ended. According to the data of theExplosive Weapons Monitoraccidents involving hospitals, ambulances and healthcare workers globally between 2021 and 2022 quadrupled from 165 to 603.

In Ukraine and Ethiopia. Ground-launched artillery shells and missiles sent by Russian forces have damaged and destroyed hundreds of health facilities, clinics, pharmacies and emergency response centers. At least 53 hospitals have been reportedly hit multiple times by the explosive weapons, while at least one in ten hospitals across the country have been damaged. In the western region of Tigray, a rocket attack led to the closure of a facility that provides maternity care, with serious implications for a nation that sadly faces among the lowest infant survival rates in the world.

Attacks on schools and teachers. Education is also a collateral victim of the misuse of explosive weapons. The report shows that incidents against schools and teachers rose from 133 in 2021 to 168 in 2022. In Myanmar alone, 190 explosions were documented in and around school facilities between February 2021 and March 2022. As of June 2022, at least 7.8 million children in the country have stopped going to school, either for safety reasons or because school is no longer there.

Examples of attacks on populated areas. The report refers to the March 16, 2022 Russian air assault in Mariupol, Donetsk, where hundreds of people had taken refuge to escape the shelling of the Moscow army, which had targeted power plants and water and gas supplies in other parts of Ukraine. In Tigray, however, on 7 January 2022, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces bombed an IDP camp in the town of Dedebit with an armed drone. At least fifty-six people were killed in this grisly attack, which left dismembered bodies on the ground and chunks of human flesh in the branches of trees and forced aid agencies to suspend relief operations just when they were most needed of aid. Somalia has also seen an increase in the misuse of explosive weapons. The report tells of car bombings that claimed 821 civilian lives in 2022 alone.