Explosive Violence Monitor 2018

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People killed or injured globally
Total number of casualties: 32,114
Total number of people killed: 16,545
Total number of people injured: 15, 569

Civilians
Number of civilians killed: 9,631
Number of civilians injured: 12,720
70% of those killed or injured were civilians

Armed Actors
Number of armed actors killed: 6,914
Number of armed actors injured: 2,849

Populated areas
Total number of people killed in populated areas: 9,975
Total number of people injured in populated areas: 12,581
Number of civilians killed in populated areas: 8,627
Number of civilians injured in populated areas: 11,765
90% of all people killed or injured in populated areas were civilians

Children
Number of children killed or injured (where stated): 2,168

Gender
16%
 of civilians killed or injured were women (where stated)

Weapon Types
Of total civilian casualties, 32% were killed or injured by airstrikes
Of total civilian casualties, 15% were killed or injured by ground strikes
Of total civilian casualties, 42% were killed or injured by IEDs

Countries
The top five countries impacted in regard to total number of people killed and injured by explosive weapons (from more to less affected):
Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan
The top five countries impacted in regard to the number of civilians killed and injured by explosive weapons (from more to less affected):
Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan

Read our annual reports: 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011

AOAV is a founding member of the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW). We believe, as our data clearly routinely shows, that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas causes severe harm to individuals and communities. We believe that this suffering can and should be reduced so that unnecessary deaths and injuries can be prevented. We call on States to cease the use of explosive weapons in towns and cities.

The figures in the summary above were updated in December 2020 and represent higher figures than in our Explosive Violence Monitor 2018 annual report. This is due to the persistent collection of data by AOAV, some of which would have been released, and subsequently recorded, following the completion of our 2018 report. The figures in the infographics below reflect the data from our 2018 annual report, not this summary. 

  • 3,461

    Total number of incidents

  • 32,110

    Total number of casualties
    (killed and injured)

  • 70

    % of casualties who are civilians

% of civilian casualties by weapon type

The worst incidents of 2018