LONDON: A London-based charity Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) has released a report revealing that explosive weapons caused over 31,000 deaths and injuries across 4,322 incidents globally in the year 2022, and that Pakistan experienced the highest number of civilian casualties due to the use of explosive weapons.
The number of civilians harmed by IED attacks rose by 67% in 2022 in Pakistan, with the total number of civilian casualties of explosive violence increasing by 62%, the highest levels recorded since 2018. In 2022, 721 civilians were reported killed and injured due to explosive violence in Pakistan.
AOAV’s sub-report titled “Place of Worship” revealed that 1,057 casualties were recorded from incidents of explosive violence in places of worship, of whom 98% (1,032) were civilians. It further said that 53% (553) of civilian casualties from such incidents were recorded in Afghanistan, and 24% (250) in Pakistan. The report particularly mentioned Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) as being responsible for most IED attacks in Pakistan, leading to the rise in civilian casualties.
The AOAV said Pakistan experienced the most injurious year since 2018, with AOAV recording 721 civilian casualties of explosive weapons use across 126 incidents. This marks a 62% increase from 445 civilian casualties recorded across 100 incidents in 2021. Moreover, it means the rate of civilian harm per incident increased from 4.5 to 5.7. Most notably, incidents of explosive weapon use by non-state actors rose by 31% last year, from 71 to 93 incidents, and civilian casualties of such attacks rose by 47% from 376 to 554. 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.
It said IEDs caused 71% (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 Tehrik-e 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 AOAV report further revealed that Nine countries saw more than 100 civilian deaths and injuries from IED attacks last year: Afghanistan (1,121 civilian casualties), Somalia (1,091), Pakistan (515), India (184), Nigeria (176), Iraq (154), Syria (152), Burkina Faso (134), and Myanmar (114). Of those, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iraq, and Syria represent the worst impacted countries for IED violence over the last decade.
Under its sub-report titled “Suicide Bombings” the AOAV said Pakistan saw a significant spike in suicide bombings last year, with recorded attacks increasing by 500% from three to 12. Civilian casualties from such attacks increased by 2,162%, from 13 to 294. The majority of incidents cannot be attributed, but the Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan (TTP) were the reported perpetrators of three incidents and 15 civilian casualties, while the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) killed and injured eight civilians across a single incident, and the Islamic State (ISIS) caused three civilian casualties across one incident.
