New data show the UK has trained nearly 1,900 military personnel from over 100 countries, including 14 on its own human-rights watchlist, raising concerns about oversight, transparency and the risk of bolstering abusive security forces.

Britain’s military training missions in Africa aim to promote stability and rights, but in practice they often entangle the UK with fragile regimes, limited oversight and contested outcomes.

The UK’s failure to preserve and institutionalise conflict-related data from its former Conflict Pool reveals deep systemic weaknesses in government learning, accountability, and evidence-based programming—losses that have crippled adaptive policymaking, hindered evaluation of effectiveness in countries like Somalia, and reflect a wider global erosion of conflict data infrastructure that threatens the integrity of future peacebuilding efforts.

This report presents the findings of global explosive violence patterns in 2024. It constitutes the fourteenth consecutive year of Action on Armed Violence’s (AOAV) Explosive Violence Monitoring Project (EVMP), which records the casualties from explosive weapons use worldwide as reported in English-language media.

From 13 to 19 October 2023, AOAV has recorded 217 incidents of explosive violence around the world, and 1,619 civilian casualties.

In September 2023, Action on Armed Violence recorded 3,186 deaths and injuries from 539 incidents of explosive violence around the world, as reported in English-language media. Civilians accounted for 63% (2,007) of the deaths and injuries recorded.

On 24 September 2023, up to 30 people were killed and at least 50 injured in a truck bomb in Beledweyne, Hirshabelle.

Recent data from Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) coupled with records from Care4Calais shed light on the acute dangers that many asylum seekers coming to the UK face in their homelands.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has made the difficult decision to cease its medical services at Las Anod General Hospital in the Sool region of Somalia due to increasing violence and security incidents that have compromised the safety of patients and healthcare workers. The escalating attacks on the hospital have made it impossible for MSF to provide medical care, leaving the community with limited access to vital healthcare services.

The period from January to June 2023 witnessed a total of 640 incidents involving Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which accounted for 21% of all explosive weapon use during this time frame.

In June 2023, Action on Armed Violence recorded 2,671 deaths and injuries from 537 incidents of explosive violence around the world, as reported in English-language media. Civilians accounted for 67% (1,798) of the deaths and injuries recorded.

In his 2023 lecture at the Festival of Writing and Ideas, Dr. Iain Overton reflects on the persistent suffering of war victims throughout history, underscoring the critical need for empathy towards those fleeing from conflict zones, challenging discriminatory media rhetoric, and urging us to recognise our shared humanity in order to foster a compassionate, welcoming society.