NEWS CENTER- According to a paper submitted to the UN’s convention on certain conventional weapons (CWW), Turkey is one of the five countries having the highest number of civilian deaths. Syria, Iran, Yemen and Afghanistan are also in the list.

 

EU member countries have urged states to prevent and reduce the “devastating harm” to civilians from airstrikes and bombs in urban areas due to increasingly number of civilians killed or injured by explosive weapons in worldwide conflicts. The paper has been prepared by Germany and Austria says Turkey, Syria, Iran, Yemen and Afghanistan have the highest number of civilian deaths.

 

According to the piece published by The Guardian, supported by the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation, Germany submitted the paper to the UN’s convention on certain conventional weapons (CWW). The paper says more than 32,000 civilian deaths or injuries were caused by explosive weapons in 2016.

 

The paper also highlighted concerns about the number of civilian casualties caused by air-launched weapons fired by government forces, which rose from 18% to 31% in 2016. Attacks carried out by militias using improvised explosive devices account for half of all civilian deaths and injuries in civil conflict.

 

The CCW is due to discuss the harm caused by explosives in populated areas for the first time.