In December 2024, Action on Armed Violence recorded 4,819 deaths and injuries from 791 incidents of explosive violence around the world, as reported in English-language media. Civilians accounted for 91% (4,402) of the deaths and injuries recorded.
In instances where explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 98% of casualties (4,284) were civilians, as opposed to 26% (118) in non-populated areas.
Manufactured explosive weapons accounted for 93% (4,110) of civilian casualties, while improvised explosive weapons (IEDs) accounted for 2% (95) of these civilian casualties in December 2024.
Of the main launch-method types of manufactured explosive weapons, air-launched explosive weapons accounted for 72% (3,150) of civilian casualties, ground-launched weapons were responsible for 20% (895) of civilian casualties, and mines were responsible for 1% (28) of civilian casualties.
At least one death or injury from the use of explosive weapons was recorded in 26 countries and territories in December 2024. The five most affected countries and territories in terms of civilian casualties from the use of explosive weapons were Gaza (1,857 civilian casualties), Sudan (751), Ukraine (586), Syria (555) and Myanmar (157).
GAZA
In December 2024, there were 306 incidents of explosive weapon use recorded in Gaza, 296 of which resulted in 1,857 civilian casualties, of whom 1,186 were killed and 671 injured. Civilian casualties included at least 98 children, 38 women, and 28 men. Overall, civilians accounted for 97% of all 1,905 casualties recorded in Gaza in December, as there were also 48 reported armed-actor casualties, of whom 28 were killed and 20 injured.
Due to the consistent and frequent attacks in populated areas using explosive weapons, incident-specific reporting of casualties in Gaza is a slow and laborious process, with many reports coming in weeks after the incident. This, added to the difficulty in disaggregating and tracking rising casualty tolls and attributing deaths and injuries to specific strikes, means that AOAV’s December data for Gaza is, as it stands, likely to be a significant undercounting.
All civilian casualties recorded occurred in populated areas. Specifically, 39% (716) occurred in urban residential areas, 36% (679) in encampments, 14% (260) in schools, 5% (89) in hospitals, 3% (48) on humanitarian infrastructure, 2% (30) in commercial premises, 1% (13) in places of worship, and less than 1% in places of entertainment (7), public buildings (2), and across multiple urban areas (1).
The regions in which civilian casualties were reported in Gaza in December are North Gaza (973) civilian casualties), Central Gaza (517) and South Gaza (367).
All recorded civilian casualties were caused by state actors’ use of explosive weapons, specifically Israel.
The use of air launched weapons caused 94% (1,740) of civilian casualties, specifically air strikes (1,738 civilian casualties) and air-launched missiles (2). Ground launched weapons caused 4% (82) of civilian casualties, specifically non-specific shelling (38), artillery shelling (33), tank shelling (10) and grenades (1).
Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) accounted for 1% (21) of civilian casualties. Both weapons of unclear launch method and weapons of combined launch method accounted for less than 1% (7) of civilian casualties respectively.
The number of civilian casualties of explosive weapon use in Gaza in December 2024 decreased slightly compared to levels recorded in November, when 277 incidents resulted in 1,915 civilian casualties (1,423 killed, 492 injured). In October, AOAV recorded 321 incidents and 2,842 civilian casualties, of whom 1,578 were killed and 1,264 injured.
SUDAN
In December 2024, there were 28 recorded incidents of explosive weapon use in Sudan, 26 of which caused 751 civilian casualties, 401 of whom were killed and 350 injured. Civilian casualties included at least 6 children and 10 women. Overall, civilians accounted for 98% ofl casualties recorded in Sudan in December, as there were also 18 armed actors killed.
98% (736) of civilian casualties reported occurred in populated areas. Specifically, 28% (209) occurred in urban residential areas, 26% (189) occurred across multiple urban areas, 23% (166) occurred in markets, 9% (65) occurred on transport related infrastructure, 4% (29) occurred in both hospitals and encampments respectively, 3% occurred in schools (25) and places of worship (24) respectively.
The states in which civilian casualties were reported in Sudan in December are North Darfur (386 civilian casualties), Khartoum (322), South Darfur (31) Jazira (9) and Blue Nile (3).
Non-state actors, specifically the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), caused 72% (544) of civilian casualties. Whereas state actors, specifically Sudan, accounted for 28% (207) of civilian casualties.
Air-launched weapons caused 57% (382) of civilian casualties, specifically air strikes (329 and air-dropped bombs (100). Ground-launched weapons accounted for 43% (322) of civilian casualties, specifically non-specific shelling (226 civilian casualties), and artillery shelling (96).
Civilian casualties of explosive weapon use in Sudan in December 2024 increased significantly compared to November, when 15 incidents caused 467 reported civilian casualties (196 killed, 271 injured). In October, 17 incidents of explosive weapon use were recorded, which resulted in 822 reported civilian casualties (274 killed, 548 injured).
UKRAINE
In December 2024, there were 221 recorded incidents of explosive weapon use in Ukraine, 212 of which caused 586 civilian casualties, 100 of whom were killed and 486 injured. Civilian casualties included at least 18 children, 97 women and 142 men. Overall, civilians accounted for 95% of all 614 casualties recorded in Ukraine in December, as there were also 28 reported armed-actor casualties, of whom 14 were killed and 14 injured.
96% (564) of civilian casualties occurred in populated areas. Specifically, 43% (245) occurred in urban residential areas, 18% (102) in villages, 16% (93) across multiple urban areas, 8% (43) in commercial premises, 6% (33) in hospitals, 4% (20) in public buildings, 2% (11) in public transport, 2% (9) in markets, 1% in locations marked as other (3) and town centres (3) respectively, and less than 1% in places of entertainment (1) and agricultural land (1).
The oblasts in which civilian casualties were reported in Ukraine in December are Kherson (207 civilian casualties), Donetsk (101), Zaporizhizhia (82), Dnipropetrovsk (80), Kharkiv (78), Kyiv (17), Sumy (6), Mykolaiv (5), Ternopil (5), Chernihiv (3), Ivano Frankivsk (1) and Khmelnytskyi (1).
The majority of civilian casualties, 99.1% (581), were attributed to state actors’ use of explosive weapons, specifically Russia (574 civilian casualties), and Ukraine (7). Actors of unknown name and status caused less than 1% (5) of civilian casualties.
The use of ground-launched weapons caused 38% (221) of civilian casualties, specifically non-specific shelling (153 civilian casualties), artillery shelling (43), ground-launched missiles (14), ground-launched rockets (9) and grenades (2).
Air-launched weapons caused 31% (184) of civilian casualties, specifically air strikes (132) and air-dropped bombs (52). Weapons of unclear launch method, specifically missiles, accounted for 24% (142) of civilian casualties.
The use of combined explosive weapons caused 5% (28) of civilian casualties. Mines, specifically landmines, were the cause of less than 1% (1) of civilian casualties. IEDs accounted for 1% of civilian casualties, specifically improvised rockets (4), non-specific IEDs (3), and car bombs (1).
The number of civilian casualties of explosive weapon use in Ukraine in December 2024 decreased significantly compared to levels recorded in November, when 208 incidents caused 1,014 civilian casualties, 152 of whom were killed and 862 injured. In October, 301 incidents were recorded, which caused 1,085 civilian casualties (170 killed, 915 injured).
SYRIA
In December 2024, there were 98 incidents of explosive weapon use recorded in Syria, 74 of which resulted in 555 civilian casualties, 244 of whom were killed and 311 injured. Civilian casualties included at least 118 children, 55 women, and 29 men. Overall, civilians accounted for 83% of all 669 casualties recorded in Syria in December, as 114 armed actor casualties were also recorded, including 82 killed and 32 injured.
93% (515) of civilian casualties occurred in populated areas. Specifically, 40% (208) occurred across multiple urban areas, 24% (124) in villages, 24% (122) in urban residential areas, 7% (35) in hospitals, 4% (20) in encampments, 1% (6) in schools.
The states in which civilian casualties were recorded in Syria in December are Idlib (223 civilian casualties), Aleppo (127), Hama (57), Homs (38), Tartus (36), Raqqa (20), Hasakah (19), Daraa (12), Damascus (11), Rif Dimashq (6), and Deir Ezzor (6).
State actors accounted for 81% of civilian casualties, specifically Syria (197 civilian casualties), Russia (110), Turkey (74), Israel (51) and Russia and Syria (18).
Non-state actors accounted for 12% (66) of civilian casualties, specifically Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (26), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) (12), the Manbij Military Council (11), unknown non-state actors (11), Iran-backed militias (4), and the Syrian National Army (SNA) (2).
Actors of unknown name and status accounted for 6% (34) of civilian casualties. Combined state actors and non-state actors accounted for less than 1% of civilian casualties, specifically the SDF and Turkey (2) as well as Turkey and the Manbij Military council (2).
The use of air-launched weapons, specifically accounted for 77% of civilian casualties, specifically air strikes (228), air-launched missiles (191) and air-dropped bombs (7).
Ground-launched weapons caused 16% (90) of civilian casualties, specifically artillery shelling 36), ground-launched rockets (25), non-specific shelling (17), grenades (6), multiple explosive weapons (4) and mortars (2). Weapons of unclear launch method, specifically missiles, accounted for 3% (19) of civilian casualties.
IEDs, specifically non-specific IEDs, accounted for 2% (11) of civilian casualties. Mines, specifically landmines, also accounted for 2% (9) of civilian casualties.
Civilian casualties of explosive weapon use in Syria in December 2024 increased compared to November, when 102 incidents caused 399 reported civilian casualties, 118 of whom were killed and 281 injured. In October, 115 incidents were recorded, which resulted in 308 civilian casualties (79 killed, 229 injured).
MYANMAR
In December 2024, there were 30 recorded incidents of explosive weapon use in Myanmar, 27 of which caused 157 civilian casualties, 50 of whom were killed and 107 injured. Civilian casualties included at least 13 children, 17 women and 15 men. Overall, civilians accounted for 92% of all 170 casualties recorded in Myanmar in December, as there were also 13 armed-actor casualties, of whom 11 were killed and 2 injured.
99.4% (156) of civilian casualties occurred in populated areas. Specifically, 74% (115) occurred in villages, 10% (15) across multiple urban areas, 6% (10) in urban residential areas, 6% (9) in encampments, and 4% (7) in places of worship.
The regions in which civilian casualties were reported in Myanmar in December are Rakhine (61 civilian casualties), Sagaing (30), Mandalay (25), Shan (22), Bago (7), Mon (5), Chin (4) and Magway (3).
State actors, specifically Myanmar, accounted for 90% (141) of civilian casualties. Whereas, non-state actors, specifically the People’s Defence Force (PDF) caused 10% (15) of civilian casualties. Actors of unknown name and status accounted for less than 1% (1) of civilian casualties.
The use of air-launched weapons, specifically air strikes, caused 90% (141) of civilian casualties. Ground-launched weapons caused 7% (11) of civilian casualties, specifically artillery shelling (5), mortars (5) and non-specific shelling (1). Mines, specifically landmines, caused 1% (2) of civilian casualties. Naval-launched weapons, specifically artillery-shelling, also accounted for 1% (2) of civilian casualties.The number of civilian casualties of explosive weapon use in Myanmar in December 2024 decreased compared to levels recorded in November, when 29 incidents caused 198 civilian casualties, 111 of whom were killed and 87 injured. In October, 38 incidents were recorded, which caused 309 civilian casualties (126 killed, 183 injured).
AOAV condemns the use of violence against civilians and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. All actors should stop using explosive weapons with wide-area effects where there is likely to be a high concentration of civilians.
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