Civilian harm from explosive munitions continues despite EWIPA Declaration

The September 2025 issue of the Explosive Weapon Monitor’s journal Fragments discussed civilian casualties caused by the continued use of explosive munitions by states endorsing the Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA) Political Declaration. It urges these states to go further than endorsing the declaration by ensuring the implementation of its points of action, as well as limiting the use of munitions which have high explosive warheads and wide-area effects in civilian areas.

As part of their analysis, three case studies—drawing primarily on OSMP entries—were put forward in order to exemplify munitions incidents in which civilian harm occurred. The journal referred to OSMP analysis of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles used in U.S. strikes in Yemen in March 2025, the use of Turkish-made MAM-L air-delivered bombs in Somalia in March 2024, and Dutch strikes in Iraq in June 2015 which employed GBU-39 SDB air-delivered bombs.