Congo, Democratic Republic of

Casualties

Last updated: 16 June 2017

Casualties Overview

All known casualties by end 2016

2,579 (1,073 killed; 1,500 injured; 6 unknown)

Casualties occurring in 2016

37 (2015: 16)

2016 casualties by survival outcome

9 killed; 28 injured (2015: 7 killed; 9 injured)

2016 casualties by device type

36 explosive remnants of war (ERW); 1 improvised mine

 

The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) reported 37 mine/ERW casualties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for 2016.[1] As in previous years, children constituted a significant portion of all casualties, with nearly three quarters of casualties being minors (27). All casualties were civilians, including 10 females (two women; seven girls; 1 of unknown age) and 27 males (four men; 20 boys; three of unknown age).[2]

All casualties were caused by ERW, except one that was caused by an improvised mine (victim-activated improvised explosive device, IED).

The 2016 casualty total represented a significant increase from the 16 mine/ERW casualties recorded for 2015, but remained less than the 47 casualties recorded by UNMAS for 2014.[3]

It has been frequently and repeatedly reported that available casualty data significantly underrepresents the true number of people killed and injured, due to the absence of a national data collection system for mine/ERW casualties and the fact that parts of the country remain inaccessible, owing to a lack of infrastructure and security constraints.[4]

UNMAS reported 2,579 mine/ERW casualties between 1964 and the end of 2015,[5] with 1,073 people killed, 1,500 injured, and six cases in which it was unknown if the casualties survived.[6] Of all casualties, 1,660 were male and about a quarter (629) were female.[7] Children represented 44% (1,127) of the total casualties. Casualties were identified in all of DRC’s 11 provinces, although more than half of all casualties occurred in just three provinces: South Kivu (23%), Equateur (21%), and North Kivu (19%).[8]

Cluster munition casualties

Unexploded cluster submunitions caused 207 casualties in DRC through the end of 2016.[9] The last unexploded submunition casualties identified in disaggregated data occurred in 2010.



[1] Email from King Venance Ngoma Kilema, National Operations Officer, UNMAS, 2 May 2017.

[2] The age and sex of two casualties were unknown.

[3] Emails from King Venance Ngoma Kilema, UNMAS, 22 July 2015, and 27 May 2016.

[4] Ministry of Social Affairs, “Plan Stratégique National d’Assistance aux Victimes des Mines/REG et autres Personnes en Situation de Handicap: Novembre 2010–Octobre 2011” (“National Strategic Plan for Assistance for mine/ERW Victims and other Persons with Disabilities: November 2010–October 2011,” PSNAVH), Kinshasa, 24 February 2011, p. 20; email from King Venance Ngoma Kilema, UNMAS, 22 July 2015; statement of DRC, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Standing Committee Meetings, Geneva, 19 May 2016; response to Monitor questionnaire by Baudouin Asubeti Milongo, Victim assistance focal point, Congolese Mine Action Center (Centre Congolais de Lutte Anti-Mines, CCLAM), 11 July 2016; and email from King Venance Ngoma Kilema, 2 May 2017.

[5] In 2017, UNMAS reported 2,573 mine/ERW casualties and noted that the UNMAS database is only able to disaggregate data from 2014 until 2017; prior to 2014 the data was not disaggregated and some data was lost.

[6] Analysis of casualty data provided by Aurélie Fabry, UNMAS, Kinshasa, 15 April 2014; and analysis of casualty data provided by King Venance Ngoma Kilema, UNMAS, 22 July 2015.

[7] The sex of 301 casualties was unknown.

[8] Analysis of casualty data provided by Aurélie Fabry, UNMAS, Kinshasa, 15 April 2014; and by King Venance Ngoma Kilema, UNMAS, 22 July 2015, and 27 May 2016. In May 2017, UNMAS reported that the total number of casualties in DRC was 2,573, slightly less than the figure reported by the Monitor for the end of 2015. However, UNMAS stated that some data had been lost. Email from King Venance Ngoma Kilema, UNMAS, 2 May 2017.

[9] Analysis of casualty data provided by Aurélie Fabry, UNMAS, Kinshasa, 15 April 2014; and by King Venance Ngoma Kilema, UNMAS, 22 July 2015, and 27 May 2016. In the limited casualty dataset for DRC provided in 2017, only 157 submunition casualties were recorded. Analysis of casualty data provided by King Venance Ngoma Kilema, UNMAS, 2 May 2017.