Battle Lines Indiscriminate weapons: how wars became so deadly for civilians
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Nov 19, 2025 George Graham, Executive Director at Save the Children, and Shehan Hettiaratchy, a paediatric blast injury expert at Imperial College, discuss the alarming rise in child casualties due to explosive weapons. They highlight how modern conflicts utilize more destructive technologies and urban warfare tactics, leaving children uniquely vulnerable. The guests explore the societal impacts of these casualties, gaps in long-term outcome research, and the need for better accountability measures to protect civilians, especially children, in war zones.
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Scale Of Child Harm In Conflicts
- One in five children now live in areas affected by conflict and child casualties hit record highs in 2024. Save the Children reports over 50,000 children killed or injured across five years, likened to 200 full passenger planes of children lost.
Children React Differently To Blast Forces
- Children are anatomically and physiologically different, so blast waves affect them more severely than adults. Their smaller size and lower blood volume mean they tolerate less injury and bleed-out faster after blasts.
Father Carrying Unmarked Child Fatalities
- A senior editor recalled a father leaving a hospital carrying two dead but physically unharmed children killed by blast injury. The example highlights how blast waves can cause fatal internal damage without visible external wounds.