More children are being killed and injured by explosive weapons than at any point in modern history, a landmark report has found. It finds that explosive weapons – mainly state owned – were responsible for more than 60 per cent of all conflict-related child deaths and injuries between 2020 and 2024. In total, there were almost 50,000 casualties, equivalent to 200 passenger planes full of children.
The carnage is being driven by an increase in the use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas; the spread of new munitions, such as glide bombs, which pack huge explosive power; and the erosion of key principles of the rules of law.
Read more…
Source: The Telegraph News
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Myanmar bomb hits Thai border province
April 21, 2026
A bomb from a Myanmar air raid has landed on Thai territory in Mae Hong Son province, prompting officials to evacuate residents in the area, local authorities said According to reports, at 11am on April 20, Myanmar’s air force used Yak-130 and MiG-29 fighter jets to carry out air strikes on a Karen National Union (KNU) ...
- Lebanon: Hezbollah deploying FPV explosive drones against IDF forces
April 12, 2026
Hezbollah has increasingly been using first-person-view (FPV) explosive suicide drones against Israeli forces in Lebanon, and while these technologies and tactics have been emerging in the Levant, they have long been established in the war between Ukraine and Russia. Drone warfare has rapidly evolved in the Russia-Ukraine War, as have countermeasures, providing the Israeli military with ...
- US and Iran agree to a two-week ceasefire
April 8, 2026
The United States and Iran said Tuesday they have agreed to a two-week ceasefire in the war that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump initially had said Iran proposed a “workable” 10-point plan that could help end the war launched by the U.S. and Israel in February. But he ...
- UN: Sea mines clearance, a new dimension of difficulty
March 30, 2026
It is still not clear whether mines, which can sink vessels of all types if activated, have been deployed in the Strait of Hormuz, as part of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Most shipping has not been able to pass through the strategically important strait as Iran continues its war with the United States, ...
- Israel: Hezbollah launched cluster missile at Kiryat Shmona
March 25, 2026
The Israel Police confirmed on Wednesday that inspections of scenes of fallen projectiles in Kiryat Shmona found that for the first time since the war began, Hezbollah used cluster munitions, which landed in a residential neighborhood in the city. A cluster munition is a munition that comes apart in the air and releases dozens or hundreds ...
- Israel: Former fire chief warns of dangers of Iranian cluster bombs, how to stay safe
March 15, 2026
As part of Operation Roaring Lion and the ongoing conflict with Iran, Israel’s home front is facing multiple ballistic missile barrages every day, fired from Iran towards every part of the country. These barrages frequently include cluster munitions, which split in mid-air into smaller bombs and are considered extremely dangerous. Former Fire and Rescue Authority commander ...
- Netherlands: Explosion outside Jewish school in Amsterdam – “targeted attack”
March 14, 2026
An explosion outside a Jewish school in Buitenveldert in Amsterdam on Friday night caused limited damage, according to Dutch police. A photograph obtained by the Parool newspaper shows flames at an outside wall of the school, close to a drainpipe. There was another explosion at a Belgian synagogue last Sunday night and one at a synagogue ...
- Hormuz Strait tensions: How navies detect and clear marine mines
March 13, 2026
With the US racing to unblock the Strait of Hormuz and stabilise soaring oil prices, a report emerged that Iran has sown an “estimated 10 mines” in the vital chokepoint, where 20% of global oil exports pass through. Deployed stealthily, often by frogmen from small boats masquerading as fishing vessels, these weapons evade detection, rendering clearance ...
- Pakistan: Five injured in grenade attack on house in Balochistan’s Pasni
March 11, 2026
Five labourers from Sindh were injured in a grenade attack on a house in the coastal town of Pasni late Tuesday night, police said. Unknown people riding motorbikes hurled a grenade at a residential quarter in Ward No. 9, resulting in an explosion in the house’s courtyard, according to police reports. As a result, five people ...
- Iran’s cluster missiles scatter bombs and destruction across Israel
March 4, 2026
Iran has launched multiple ballistic missiles at Israel carrying cluster bomb warheads during the ongoing conflict, indiscriminately spreading small bombs in wide areas of the country. The warhead of such missiles opens up while descending and scatters between 24 and up to 80 smaller munitions with around 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of explosives, in a radius ...
- Russia: Remote detonation of explosive devices kills three police officers in late 2025, 2026
March 2, 2026
Three police officers in Moscow, two late last year and one last week, were killed when explosive devices they were carrying were detonated remotely, Russian Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Irina Volk said. “Recently and at the end of last year, the actions of citizens acting under the influence of Ukrainian criminals claimed the lives of three capital ...
- Civilians face increasing harm from deadly explosive weapons
February 26, 2026
Dr Stacey Pizzino from UQ’s School of Public Health collated information on 105,931 casualties in 17 countries and regions across Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. “This is the first pooled casualty analysis globally using previously untapped data sources,” Dr Pizzino said. “It showed nearly one in 4 people injured by landmines and explosive ordnance die ...
- Pakistan, Afghan forces clash after days of hostilities
February 26, 2026
Pakistani and Afghan border forces clashed on Thursday night after the Taliban launched what it called retaliatory strikes on Pakistani installations, sharply escalating tensions after days of cross-border hostilities. Afghan forces opened fire on posts in Pakistan’s mountainous northwest, sparking more than two hours of fighting before Pakistani troops retaliated, Pakistani officials said, speaking on condition ...
- Nigeria: ISWAP commander ‘dies from IED planted by his own faction’ in Borno
February 25, 2026
A senior commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has reportedly been killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by members of his own faction in Borno. According to a report, the incident occurred on February 24 and has “triggered internal discord” and “heightened tensions” within ISWAP ranks. The sources said a fighter ...
- UNODC facilitates regional exchange on strengthening cross-border coordination in countering use of IEDs and drones in the Sahel
February 25, 2026
Terrorist violence continues to pose a serious threat to stability and security across West Africa, with the Sahel region remaining the epicentre of global terrorism-related deaths. In recent years, terrorist groups, particularly those affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) and Al-Qaida, have increasingly relied on asymmetric tactics, notably Improvised Explosive Devices ...