Syrian children and women are disproportionately affected by explosive weapons in populated areas, and their use “should be urgently prohibited” according to the authors of a new study. These weapons include shelling, air bombardment, and car bombs.
The research team examined over 78,000 civilian violent deaths that occurred in Syria from March 2011, to January 2015. They found that child-deaths were caused by shelling or air bombardments between 66 and 75 per cent of the time, depending on who controlled the region.
The authors call for these types of weapons to “be prohibited or systematically monitored to demonstrate civilian protection.”
Original research paper published in the BMJ on September 29, 2015.
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