#aoav

Action on Armed Violence’s (AOAV) monitoring project, launched in October 2010, uses English-language media reports to capture information on who has been killed and injured by incidents of explosive violence. We have over 10 years of explosive violence data recorded and analysed. This data below focuses on Afghanistan.

Last year, 2020, for the first time since AOAV’s monitor on global explosive violence harm began in 2011, Afghanistan was seen to be the worst impacted country in the world with regard to civilian casualties harmed by explosive weapons.

Afghanistan has been the third worst-affected state by explosive violence globally over the past decade.

From 2011-2020, AOAV recorded 49,039 deaths and injuries from explosive violence in Afghanistan – of these, 28,356 (58%) were civilians.

When explosive violence was used in populated areas, 83% of those killed or injured were civilians.

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) caused, by far, the most harm in this period, with 79% of all civilian casualties resulting from this type of explosive.

Ground-launched weapons were responsible for 10% of civilian casualties, whilst airstrikes accounted for 8%.

2019 was the worst year in this period for civilian casualties in Afghanistan, with AOAV recording 4,630 deaths and injuries from explosive violence.

Review AOAV has consistently recorded Afghanistan among the countries worst impacted by explosive violence. Over the first five years of the Explosive Violence Monitor, from 2011-2015, AOAV recorded 1,701 incidences of explosive harm, resulting in 10,712 civilian deaths or injuries. This figure made Afghanistan the country fourth worst-affected by explosive violence during this period, with only Iraq, Syria and Pakistan recording more casualties.

Explosive violence attacks the very fabric of a family unit. It kills and injures parents and carers, rendering them unable to provide the nurturing and protection children need children. AOAV data shows that in 2019 alone, 27,466 adults were killed and injured by explosive weapons- many of whom will be parents, grandparents, and carers.

In this report we seek to examine the impacts – direct and indirect – of explosive violence on how children are cared for. We find that, perhaps even predictably, the loss of parental support, through death, injury, or mental illness, exposes a child to the risk of homelessness, abduction, sexual violence, and recruitment to armed groups.

Explosive weapons and orphans Over the last decade at least one million children have been orphaned as a direct result of armed conflict. A 2019 study of African conflicts between 1990 to 2016 showed that the risk of orphanhood increased by nearly 6% following exposure to armed conflicts within 50km of their residence. However, reliable data is difficult to obtain and this figure is likely to be much higher. The American Academy of Paediatrics has commented that the absence of reliable data and tendency to aggregate child and adult data’ in means there are ‘no pooled estimates’ for the number of children orphaned by conflict globally. An added complication is the critical lack of a universal definition of ‘orphan’ within the space, with some organisations including UNICEF defining it as a child who ‘has lost one or both parents’, while others define it as having lost both parents. The concept of social orphanhood refers to children neglected by their parents even though they are alive.

After almost 19 years of ongoing conflict, Afghanistan has become one of the deadliest countries in the world. Alongside the thousands of Afghan governmental and coalition force fatalities, and the disturbingly increasing numbers of adult civilian casualties, children are severely impacted by the ongoing violence.

According to UNAMA, the Afghan conflict remains the world’s deadliest conflict for children. In 2018 alone, 927 children were killed due to the conflict and 2,135 children were injured there. Most of the civilian casualties occurred in Kabul, a stark reality that goes alongside the large number of complex and high-profile attacks with Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED) and suicide bombers there.

In 2019, UNAMA monitored a slight increase of child casualties (3,149 casualties) compared to 2018. And though the main cause of child casualties remains from ground engagements (39%), the imperative for this paper emerged from the fact that 33% of child casualties there were caused by suicide (15%) and non-suicide (18%) IEDs.

Since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, there has been no shortage of media coverage detailing events have unfolded in the region. A devastating part of this conflict has been the direct and purposeful targeting of hospitals and healthcare workers. This is often in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions. Both Russia and Syria have been accused of deliberately targeting hospitals and civilians as part of their bombing campaigns. Both states, however, have strenuously denied that such attacks are intentional, arguing instead that they are unfortunate collateral damage. Organisations such as The New York Times, Bellingcat, and Syrians for Truth and Justice have carried out extensive investigations into these claims, focusing on Idlib where hospitals were at the forefront of the conflict.

The persecution of healthcare professionals throughout Syria and the routine bombing of healthcare facilities has left a once functioning healthcare system devastated, without staff, supplies or equipment to carry out even the most basic of procedures in some areas. Healthcare facilities and personnel have increasingly become direct targets of violence. Physicians for Human Rights estimating at least 912 medical professionals have been killed in the conflict. Of the 782 health workers killed between March, 2011 and September 2016, it is estimated that shelling and bombing accounted for 426 (55%) deaths.

The operation of humanitarian assistance in rebel-held areas of Syria has been consistently obstructed or denied throughout the conflict. Unable to obtain government authorisation, organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontieres have been forced to establish underground medical networks which have been largely cut-off from official assistance channels. These efforts have remained unsuccessful at halting attacks on hospitals however, with the use of ‘bunker buster bombs’, many of which containing chemical agents, being utilised to decimate underground healthcare facilities, though data on such attacks remain unclear.

Explosive weapons have devastating impacts on the lives of children across the globe. From the increased likelihood of disabilities, to the impacts on their mental health, to the disruption to their education, one thing is clear: the effects of explosive weapons on children are far-reaching. Such effects also impact boys and girls in different ways.

The use of explosive weapons continues to have horrendous impacts on civilians. Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) recorded 32,110 casualties from explosive violence in 2018. Of these, 70% (22,342) were reported to be civilians. In populated areas, this percentage rose to over 90%.

While the UN have defined killing and maiming as one of the six ‘grave violations’ against children in armed conflict, the indiscriminate nature of explosive weapons continues to contravene this stance. Between October 2010 and July 2019, AOAV has recorded 13,284 child casualties – killed or injured – caused by explosive weapons, as reported in English language media. According to Save the Children, child casualties in conflict often go unreported, and so the real number is likely to be far higher. On the whole, many casualty monitors do not disaggregate victims by age. When they do differentiate children from adults, they often do not report the gender of children.

Last month, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) recorded over 1,000 civilian casualties from explosive violence in Afghanistan. This is the highest number of monthly civilian casualties recorded in Afghanistan since AOAV began monitoring casualties from explosive violence in October 2010.

Civilians accounted for 66% (1,013) of the total casualties from explosive violence (1,540). Of the civilians killed and injured, 89% (901) were from improvised explosive devices (IEDs); 5% were from airstrikes and 6% were from ground-launched explosive weapons. Suicide attacks alone were responsible over half of all civilian casualties (53%).

Prior to July, the month with the highest levels of civilian casualties in Afghanistan had occurred in May 2017, when a bomb blast during rush-hour in Kabul’s diplomatic quarter caused over 540 civilian casualties. That month 731 civilian casualties were recorded from explosive violence.