This was confirmed by a study by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) of the Uppsala University in Sweden, which indicates previous peaks in 2020 and 2022, each with 56 wars.
The definition of war on which this study is based envisages a conflict that results in at least 1,000 deaths in a year.
The research noted that 2023 was one of the bloodiest years since the UCDP began collecting data on conflict deaths in 1989, with 154,000 fatalities involved in military events.
There were nine wars in 2023, one more than the previous year and the highest number since 2017, the study pointed out.
It also noted that most of these conflicts occur in Africa, and stressed on the effects of the civil war in Sudan, considered the deadliest of the year, after those in Ukraine and Israel in Palestine.
It also warned of the drastic consequences for civilians and pointed out that thousands of people were victims of this type of violence in Sudan, Burkina Faso, Israel and Myanmar, among others.
‘For the ninth consecutive year, the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, was the group that killed most civilians in unilateral violence.
The group was active in 16 countries where it carried out various actions such as shootings, beheading and large coordinated suicide bombings,’ the Swedish university’s inquiry noted.
It also warned that gang violence has gained ground in recent months and in countries like France and Sweden itself, such conflicts have had drastic consequences.
On the other hand, it reveals that most of the non-state conflicts take place in Latin America, the bloodiest of which have occurred in Mexico and Brazil, associated with violence in the cities and drug trafficking routes.
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