ExplosivesNumber of civilian casualties from explosives around the world continues to grow

For the fourth year in a row, 2015 saw a rise in the number of civilian casualties from explosive violence around the world. In Unacceptable Harm, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) has recorded 33,307 civilians having been killed or injured by explosive weapons – up 2 percent from 2014, and 54 percent more than when AOAV’s monitor began in 2011.

AOAV says that the key findings of the report are:

• AOAV recorded 43,786 deaths and injuries by explosive weapons in 2,170 incidents in 2015. Of these, 33,307 were civilians – 76 percent.
• When explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 92 percent of those killed and injured were civilians. This compares to 31 percent in other areas.
• Civilian deaths and injuries in populated areas represented 89 percent of all reported civilian deaths and injuries.
• Civilian deaths and injuries rose by 2 percent in 2015 from 2014. This is the fourth consecutive year in which recorded civilian casualties of explosive violence have increased. In 2011, 21,499 civilians were killed or injured.
• There was a sharp rise in the number of civilians recorded killed or injured by suicide attacks, reaching 9,205. This was 67 percent more than recorded in 2014 — in spite of similar incident numbers (253 in 2015, 248 in 2014).
• Incidents caused by air-launched weaponry killed and injured a reported 9,200 civilians worldwide,accounting for 28 percent of all civilian deaths and injuries. This represents a rise of 57 percent in civilian deaths and injuries from 2014 – in spite of a 32 percent drop in the numbers of incidents recorded (501 in 2015, 735 in 2014).
• Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Nigeria, andAfghanistan saw thehighest number of civilian deaths and injuries in 2015.
• Numbers of reported deaths and injuries in Syria continued to rise. More than 10,000 deaths and injuries were recorded by AOAV in Syria in 2015.
• A number of countries saw a significant rise in civilian deaths and injuries as a result of explosive weapons compared to the year before: Turkey (7682 percent), Yemen (1204 percent), Egypt (142 percent), Libya (85 percent), Syria (39 percent), and Nigeria (22 percent).
• Six countries and territories had over 1,000 civilian deaths and injuries in 2015.
• Incidents were recorded in sixty-fourcountries and territories around the world – five more countries than in 2014. In 23 of these countries no incidents were recorded in 2014.
• Despite this increase in deaths and injuries, there was a 20 percent decrease in the number of recorded explosive weapon incidents compared to 2014. This means there was a higher average lethality than previous years – a reflection of the increasing use of explosive weapons deliberately targeting populated areas. In 2014 AOAV had recorded 41,847 deaths and injuries from 2,702 incidents.

— Read more in Unacceptable Harm – Monitoring Explosive Violence in 2015 (AOAV, April 2016)