April has seen a sharp increase in civilian casualties of Islamic State (IS) and IS-affiliated explosive violence, with AOAV recording the highest incident count and civilian casualty count so far in 2022.
In 2022, 27 incidents have been attributed to IS and IS-affiliated groups in English language reporting, resulting in 172 civilian casualties recorded by AOAV (41 killed and 131 injured). Nine of those incidents (33%) have taken place in April, and account for 78% (134) of recorded civilian casualties of IS and IS-affiliated violence in 2022 so far. Across the 27 incidents, 70% featured non-specific IEDs (19 incidents), and IEDs caused 90% of civilian casualties (155). Other weapons attributed to IS and IS-affiliated incidents are landmines (3 incidents), RPGs (2 incidents), roadside bombs (1 incident), car bombs (1 incident), and multiple explosive devices (1 incident).
IS and IS-affiliated attacks in April 2022 have been reported in Afghanistan (3), Syria (3), Nigeria (2), and Iraq (1). The attacks in Afghanistan account for 71% (95) of recorded civilian casualties of IS and IS-affiliated explosive violence in 2022 (16 killed and 79 injured). These are the highest civilian casualty figures recorded for IS and IS-affiliated incidents in any country so far in 2022.
Since the Taliban take-over of Afghanistan, on 15th August 2021, AOAV has recorded 761 civilian casualties in Afghanistan (288 killed and 473 injured) across 14 incidents perpetrated by IS and IS-affiliated groups. Last year, 2021, Afghanistan was the worst affected country in terms of civilian casualties of IS and IS-affiliated explosive violence. In 2021, 713 civilians became casualties of explosive violence by IS and IS affiliates, 292 of whom were killed and 421 injured. Civilians accounted for 86% of the total 828 casualties recorded in Afghanistan in IS and IS-affiliated explosive violence.
The use of explosive weapons by IS and IS-affiliated groups has also increased in other countries since August 2021, with 28 incidents recorded in Iraq and 27 in Syria. AOAV has recorded 124 civilian casualties of IS and IS-affiliated explosive violence in Iraq, with 41 civilians killed and 83 injured, and 45 civilian casualties from the attacks in Syria (31 killed and 14 injured). Incidents of IS and IS-affiliated explosive violence since 15th August 2021 have also been recorded in Nigeria, (7 events), Egypt (2), Uganda (3), and Pakistan (1).
In total, AOAV has recorded 25, 084 civilian casualties reported in English language media (16, 351 injured and 8, 733 killed) attributed to IS and IS-affiliated groups since 2010.
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