Kaya Nadesan | International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW)
As civilians suffer the consequences of over three decades of conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the increased use of explosive weapons in populated areas in the last year has exacerbated the resulting humanitarian crisis. Since May 2024, the conflict has entered a new phase, marked by the intensified use of heavy explosive weapons by both the Congolese armed forces and the Rwandan-backed March 23 Movement (M23). The use of explosive weapons such as mortars, artillery, and ground-launched unguided rockets, including 122mm Grad rockets, has had devastating consequences for civilians.
A recent Amnesty International report shows that between January and July 2024, explosive weapons were launched more than 150 times into densely populated areas, killing over 100 civilians and wounding hundreds more. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has warned that “civilians face grave risks – including from the use of explosive weapons such as mortars and artillery in populated areas.” Similarly, Bruno Lemarquis, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Congo, has described the situation as “extremely, extremely worrying.”
Overwhelmed Health Facilities
The effects on healthcare have been dire, with the United Nations referring to the DRC as a “public health nightmare,” as hospitals struggle to cope with an influx of casualties. The ICRC has documented a significant increase in civilian casualties from explosive weapons since mid-2024. Hospitals, including Ndosho and Charité Maternelle General Hospitals, are overwhelmed, operating far beyond their capacity with the influx of injured civilians.
Several shells struck Charité Maternelle Hospital in central Goma, killing and injuring civilians, including newborns and pregnant women. UNICEF has reported that “some women are going into labour while fleeing bombardments or forced to deliver babies in makeshift shelters without medical care.”
Impeded Access to Essential Services
Human Rights Watch has reported that throughout 2024, displacement camps and other populated areas near Goma were indiscriminately shelled. The escalation in conflict has displaced over 400,000 people since January 2025, and heavy artillery shelling and looting have destroyed over 70,000 emergency shelters around Goma, leaving thousands without adequate protection. Overcrowded displacement sites in and around Saké and Minova have also been bombed, resulting in casualties, including children, and further destruction of shelters, exacerbating the ongoing displacement crisis.
Civilian infrastructure has suffered greatly, with heavy artillery shelling and looting impeding access to essential services. Explosive remnants from clashes have caused injuries, and parts of the city no longer have access to water or electricity, as the conflict has significantly damaged critical infrastructure. Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, states that there are “thousands in and around Goma seeking shelter, food, water, sanitation and healthcare.”
An Urgent Need for Action
The use of explosive weapons in populated areas exacerbates already existing humanitarian concerns such as collapsing healthcare systems, displacement, the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure and disruption of essential services. Unexploded ordnance poses an ongoing threat to civilians during and long after hostilities have ended, impeding the safe return of refugees and displaced persons. The effects of these weapons tend to be indiscriminate, with a staggering proportion of death and injuries inflicted on civilians, causing high levels of immediate and long-term harm to individuals and communities, making it one of the greatest threats to civilians in armed conflict.
The use of these weapons has intensified suffering of civilians in the DRC, underscoring the urgent need for their protection from explosive weapons in populated areas which can be strengthened through the adoption and full implementation of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas. INEW calls on all parties to immediately cease the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas due to their devastating impact on civilians and for states to endorse and fully implement the Political Declaration.