Conflicts Claim 167,000 Lives Across Globe in 2015, With Over 30% in Syria

The Syrian civil war accounted for nearly one third of the total number of deaths due to military conflicts around the world, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in a report on armed conflicts released on Thursday.

LONDON (Sputnik) — Some 167,000 people lost their lives in armed conflicts around the world in 2015, according to the institue.

"Global conflict fatalities totalled 167,000 in 2015: 50% took place in #MidEast & #NorthAfrica; 21% in #LatinAmerica. Death toll in #Syria fell in 2015 to 55,000; deaths rose in #Turkey, #Egypt & Yemen—to 2,000, 3,000 & 7,500 respectively," the IISS wrote on Twitter, announcing the media launch of the report.

According to the report, the number of casualties showed a significant increase in Afghanistan, where 15,000 people died last year, while in 2013 the death toll from hostilities in the country stood at 3,500.

As the number of refugees rose from 33 million in 2013 to 46 million in mid-2015, the IISS called for increased pressure to be exerted on conflicting parties to prevent a further rise in the number of people fleeing war and to ensure humanitarian aid deliveries to conflict-torn regions as well as demanding more political effort be applied to trying to settle open conflicts.

According to the IISS, in 2014 conflicts across the globe claimed 180,000 lives.