Chad

Casualties

Last updated: 10 October 2018

 

Casualties

All known casualties (through 2017)

3,157 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties: 1,212 killed; 1,745 injured; 200 unknown*

Casualties in 2017[1] 

Annual total

 

146

A sharp increase from
27 in 2016

Survival outcome

33 killed; 113 injured

Device type causing casualties

47 antivehicle mine; 8 undefined mine; 91 ERW

Civilian status

1 military; 46 civilians; 99 unknown

Age and gender

47 men; 99 unknown

 

Casualties in 2017 – details

Casualty trends

The Republic of Chad included data on 146 new mine/ERW casualties in reporting for 2017.[2] This sharp annual increase in the number of causalities recorded marked a continuation of the fluctuations in annual casualty totals of previous years: 27 in 2016, six in 2015, 79 in 2014, and 20 in 2013.[3] 

Similarly, data reported in previous years was inconsistent and not indicative of trends.[4] 

*Total casualties

At least 3,157 mine/ERW casualties had been identified by the end of 2017; 1,212 people were killed, another 1,745 were injured, and the survival of 200 people was unknown.[5] 

Cluster munition casualties

No cluster munition casualties were identified for 2017 and 2016.[6] In 2015, there were at least four casualties (three girls, and one boy) caused by cluster munition remnants.[7] The number of casualties caused by unexploded cluster submunitions or the use of cluster munitions in Chad remains unknown due to a lack of detailed and comprehensive data collection.[8] 



[1] Unless otherwise indicated, casualty data for 2017 is based on: Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form J, 29 March 2018; and Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD)-Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) antivehicle mine database provided by email from Ursign Hofmann, Policy Advisor, GICHD, 22 February 2018.

[2] Total casualty numbers in its Article 7 report did not equal the reported total. The total casualties included in the data is 146, not the 136 total reported. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form J, 29 March 2018.

[3] In 2013, the Monitor had reported nine casualties (one killed; eight injured) in Chad thanks to data provided by Zienaba Tidjani Ali, of the National Demining Center (Centre National de Déminage, CND), on 17 July 2014. However, in 2014, the CND reported that for 2013 it identified 20 victims (nine killed; 11 injured) in nine separate incidents. See, response to Monitor questionnaire by Zienaba Tidjani Ali, CND, 26 March 2015; and presentation of Chad, “18th International Meeting of Mine Action National Programme Directors and UN Advisors - Plenary Session Six: Victim Assistance and Mine/ERW Risk Education,” 17 February 2015.

[4] The CND reported 44 new mine/ERW casualties (13 killed; 31 injured) between 2010 and 2012, but did not provide differentiated data for each year. However, the total figure was inconsistent with previous CND reports of annual casualty rates and Monitor casualty data. In 2010, the CND reported 64 casualties for 2009, but by 2011 the 2009 casualty figure had been revised to 39. Email from Assane Ngueadoum, Technical Advisor for Strategic Planning and Operations, CND, 14 March 2011. Of the 131 casualties reported in Chad for 2008, 122 casualties were recorded by the CND and nine were identified through media monitoring from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008. Monitor analysis of CND, “General list of mine/ERW victims/2008” (“Liste générale des victimes des mines et autres engins non explosés/2008”), provided by Assane Ngueadoum, CND, 15 April 2009; and email from Assane Ngueadoum, CND, 22 May 2009.

[5] In 2008, Chad reported that by December 2007, 2,632 casualties were recorded (1,143 killed; 1,489 injured). There were 131 casualties reported in 2008, 39 in 2009, 28 in 2010, 34 in 2011, 15 in 2012, 20 in 2013, 79 in 2014, six in 2015, 27 in 2016, and 146 in 2017. See previous editions of the Monitor on the Monitor website; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form J, 29 March 2018.

[6] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), 4 June 2018; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), 5 March 2016.

[7] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015), Form H, 5 March 2016.

[8] Handicap International (HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), p. 48. It is likely that there have been unexploded submunition casualties in Chad. However, despite ERW incidents in regions contaminated by cluster submunitions, unexploded submunition casualties were not differentiated from other ERW casualties. Landmine Impact Survey data also showed that the most common activity at the time of each incident was tampering with ERW.