ISLAMABAD: Pakistan experienced the highest number of civilian casualties due to use of explosive weapons in 2022, says a report by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), a London-based charity, recording 721 civilian casualties due to use of explosive weapons in 126 incidents in the country.

This marked a 62 per cent increase from 445 civilian casualties recorded across 100 incidents in 2021, says the Explosive Violence Monitor 2022. Moreover, it means the rate of civilian harm per incident increased from 4.5 to 5.7, according to the report which was released on Monday.

Most notably, incidents of explosive weapon use by non-state actors rose by 31pc last year, from 71 to 93 incidents, and civilian casualties of such attacks rose by 47pc from 376 to 554.

According to the report, Pakistan appears ninth in the list of top ten countries that were most affected in 2022. Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria topped the list, while India appears in 11th place and Gaza in 13th.

Explosive Violence Monitor reveals Pakistan among top 10 countries most affected by explosive arms

While the number of recorded incidents of state-perpetrated explosive violence remained the same as 2021, with three incidents recorded, the rate of harm from state attacks increased from 1 to 18.3, with three civilians harmed in such attacks in 2021 compared to 55 last year, the report says.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) caused 71pc (515) of civilian casualties in Pakistan over the past year, while ground-launched weapons caused 194 civilian casualties, and mines caused 12 (a small drop from 15 in 2021).

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) are the predominant known perpetrators of explosive violence in the country, and in November 2022 the TTP called off a ceasefire with the Pakistani government, suggesting that non-state actors will continue to increase their activity in Pakistan, the London-based organization says.

The report reveals that explosive weapons were responsible for over 31,000 deaths and injuries across 4,322 incidents globally in 2022. Out of the total number of casualties, over 20,000 were civilians, accounting for 66pc.

The report highlights that explosive weapons used in populated areas were responsible for 90pc of civilian casualties, while other areas accounted for only 12pc. It recorded 19,632 civilians killed and injured in populated areas globally, which represented 94pc of globally reported civilian deaths and injuries.

The report shows that civilian casualties from the use of explosive weapons soared by 83pc last year, predominantly because of the war in Ukraine, according to AOAV.

A significant proportion of explosive violence incidents recorded by AOAV in 2022 went unclaimed, and could not be attributed to a specific actor. In 8pc (341) of all incidents it was unclear from reporting whether a state or non-state actor was responsible.

The AOAV recorded 2,645 incidents attributed to state actors, which resulted in a total of 19,859 casualties. Of these 71pc (14,166) of were civilians.

Russia was the predominant state perpetrator of civilian harm last year, causing 9,372 civilian casualties across 1,686 incidents. Civilians accounted for 93pc of all 10,083 recorded casualties from Russian explosive violence. Seventeen of those incidents took place in Syria, where Russian explosive weapons caused 82 civilian casualties, and the rest occurred in Ukraine.

The second highest state perpetrator of explosive violence was Myanmar, with 206 recorded incidents and 766 resulting civilian casualties. Other states identified as key perpetrators of civilian harm from explosive violence included Ukraine (600), Saudi Arabia (507 civilian casualties), Turkey (459), Ethiopia (436), and Syria (324).

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2023