There has been heavy fighting in Sudan for almost two weeks. Both sides in the conflict, the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, have resorted to shelling in densely populated areas, while ceasefires that should have allowed civilians to evacuate have so far failed. Explosive weapons have hit homes, civilian buildings, such as hospitals, and vital infrastructure; fighting killed at least 427 civilians and injured 3,700.
Watching the chaotic scenes in Khartoum on TV reminds me of the terror I experienced when I was bombed myself during the war in Syria. Years after I fled Aleppo, I can still hear the roar of explosions that shook the walls of my apartment and sent shock waves through my body. As the sound of the bombings grew louder and louder, I turned up the volume on the television.
Reliant on a wheelchair and living on the fifth floor of a building with no elevator, I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape the bombing and shelling that pulverized my childhood city and reduced parts of it to rubble.
If we’re honest, no one thinks of people like me: people who have no place to hide, who have no means to protect themselves or escape from a situation that puts their life in danger.
Despite the devastating impact on civilians in densely populated areas, explosive weapons remain the weapons of choice in current conflicts, whether in Sudan, Syria, Ukraine or elsewhere.
This is surprisingly made clear in a new report by the Explosive Weapons Monitor, which shows an 83 percent increase in the number of civilian deaths or injuries from bombing or shelling in urban areas worldwide by 2022. This staggering number was largely driven by the increased use of explosive weapons by Russian forces in Ukraine and an escalation of incidents in Ethiopia, Myanmar and Somalia.
In the first three months of 2023, at least 4,237 civilian casualties have already occurred as a result of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
Much more needs to be done to protect civilians from the horrors of these weapons. Too often, towns, cities and other populated areas are at the center of combat with explosive weapons, such as artillery, mortars, aerial bombs and rockets, that have devastating consequences.
These weapons kill, maim and terrify with terrifying ferocity. Designed for use on open battlefields, they have been deployed imprecisely and sometimes recklessly, dealing damage well beyond their intended target. They destroy schools, hospitals, water supplies, power lines and other vital infrastructure that people need to survive.
With a blatant disregard for civilian life, some armies and combatants set up bases near civilians or deliberately attempt to bomb or shell the populace into submission.
This ongoing pattern of damage is detailed in the Explosive Weapons Monitor report, which also documents the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Somalia, the occupied Palestinian territories and elsewhere.
In 2022 alone, the number of incidents in which hospitals, ambulances and healthcare workers were bombed or shot at globally has almost quadrupled to 603, while the number of incidents against schools and teachers rose to 168.
I know from my own experience the devastating effects the use of explosive weapons in urban areas can have. The destruction of schools, hospitals, water installations and other civilian buildings makes cities completely unlivable.
We now have the chance to stop the suffering of civilians.
States must endorse the Political Declaration on the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas, which formally recognizes that the use of bombs in towns and cities has intolerable consequences for civilians.
I was delighted to see 83 countries sign this groundbreaking agreement in Dublin last year, which commits governments and militaries to adopt policies and rules of engagement that better protect civilians from explosive weapons in populated areas. Now they must act urgently to implement this agreement, to save the lives of civilians in armed conflicts around the world.
And we need more countries to step forward and join the declaration. The success of campaigns to ban landmines and cluster munitions shows what is possible when the world stands shoulder to shoulder with people like me.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial view of Al Jazeera.