Casualties  Overview

The Monitor identified 114 mine/ERW casualties in the Republic of Mali in 2016.[1] The majority of the reported casualties in 2016, 82, were military, while 31 were civilian.[2] Adults, 81, made up the majority of casualties and 21 casualties were children.[3] Where the sex was known, the majority of casualties, 53, were male, while five were female.[4]

Of the 82 military casualties, 18 were Malian military personnel and 11 were French military personnel. Twenty-six were UN peacekeepers from the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), including an additional five French military. The majority of incidents occurred in the regions of Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu.

Thirty-nine casualties were caused by improvised mines. Handicap International (HI), which also reported that improvised mines (victim-activated improvised explosive devices, IEDs) could be activated upon contact or by the weight of a person. To their knowledge, IEDs have been activated both by vehicles (victim-activated) or remotely detonated.[5] The Monitor does not include remotely detonated explosive devices in its records.

HI reported that challenges in data collection meant that casualties are underreported. Some areas are inaccessible due to insecurity, and it therefore is not possible to confirm or follow up on all reports of casualties. Poor communication networks also cause delays in data collection.[6]

The 114 casualties in 2016 represented a decrease on the 167 casualties identified in 2015 and the 144 casualties identified in 2014. The 73% of total casualties in 2016 being military (including armed groups) was in contrast to 2015, when 57% of recorded casualties were civilian.

Most casualties were reported by UNMAS. The Geneva Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) recorded casualties from antivehicle mines, including suspected antivehicle mines. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) records casualties of political violence, including explosives such as mines and IEDs.

The Monitor identified a total of 581 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties (144 people killed and 437 injured) between 2006 and 2016, all of which occurred after 2006.