Covid-19 led to sharp fall in civilian deaths in conflict zones, says new report

The pandemic forced warring groups to shift their attention to the health crisis

The number of civilian casualties dropped in Syria's north-western Idlib province during the pandemic. AFP

The Covid-19 pandemic led to a sharp drop in civilian casualties in many conflicts around the world, a war monitoring group reported.

Airwars said in its latest report that there were growing calls for ceasefires or an end to wars to give authorities the respite needed to manage the most widespread public health crisis in a century.

"In total, a minimum of 784 civilians were locally alleged killed by international military actions across Syria, Iraq, and Libya during 2020. This represents a 66 per cent decrease on the minimum claimed deaths tracked by Airwars in the previous year," the group said in its report, a copy of which was sent to The National.

Of these civilian deaths, at least 364 reportedly occurred as a result of Russian bombing in Syria's Idlib province during the first two months of last year.

After a ceasefire agreed to by Russia and Turkey came into effect in March, halting the Syrian regime's campaign on Idlib and surrounding rebel-controlled regions, reports of civilian casualties caused by Russian bombing fell to their lowest levels since the country's intervention in Syria began in late 2015.

The report said that 2020 continued a trend from the end of the previous year, in which the number of strikes in Syria by the international coalition against ISIS decreased significantly.

In Iraq, although civilian casualties caused by foreign groups was limited during 2020, the country was increasingly caught up in rising tensions between the US and Iran.

"These reached boiling point with the US assassination in January of IRGC commander Qassem Suleimani, and Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, the deputy chairman of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Units," the report said.

The year proved to be a tumultuous one for Libya, as Turkey escalated its military intervention on behalf of the Government of National Accord in Tripoli.

In October, the GNA and a rival government in the east formalised a UN-brokered ceasefire in Geneva, paving the way for political talks.

“Until this came into effect, the conflict in Libya had been the only one monitored by Airwars, which had seen a significant escalation following the outbreak of the global Covid-19 pandemic,” it said.

Covid-19 added a new layer to the suffering of civilians in conflict zones.

More than 2.5 million people have died from Covid-19, one year after the disease was first detected.

The US has the world’s highest Covid-19 death toll, with more than 527,000 fatalities.

The next worst-affected countries are Brazil, with more than 255,000 deaths; Mexico with about 186,000; India with at least 157,000; and the UK with more than 122,000.