Goodbye is the hardest part: why is ending violence so difficult for non-state armed groups?

October 9, 2025 12 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Generating Respect for IHL / Identity / IHL / Influencing Behaviour in Armed Conflict / Protracted Conflict / Social Inclusion / Special Themes / Topics Thomas Evans

For groups involved in long-running non-international armed conflicts, the decision to end the use of ...

The risks and legal limits of involving ‘self-defence groups’ in non-international armed conflict

September 18, 2025 14 mins read Accountability / Analysis / Armed Groups / Conduct of Hostilities / Generating Respect for IHL / IHL / Law and Conflict / Scope of application Jelena Nikolic, Tilman Rodenhäuser & Thomas de Saint Maurice

Across contemporary armed conflicts, the presence of civilian groups who take up arms to defend ...

‘Hybrid threats’, ‘grey zones’, ‘competition’, and ‘proxies’: When is it actually war?

January 16, 2025 10 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / IHL / Law and Conflict / Scope of application Samit D’Cunha, Tristan Ferraro & Tilman Rodenhäuser

In an era of rising geopolitical tensions, terms like ‘hybrid threats,’ ‘grey zones,’ and ‘proxy ...

War in cities: a solemn appeal from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

January 7, 2025 6 mins read Access / Accountability / Analysis / Armed Groups / Conduct of Hostilities / Generating Respect for IHL / Humanitarian Action / Humanitarian diplomacy / Humanitarian Principles / IHL

Around the world, civilians in cities at war face immense risks. Urban warfare devastates lives ...

ICRC engagement with armed groups in 2024

October 31, 2024 14 mins read Access / Analysis / Armed Groups / Generating Respect for IHL / Humanitarian diplomacy Matthew Bamber-Zryd

In line with its mandate, the ICRC engages with all parties to an armed conflict, ...

Internment by non-state armed groups: legal and practical limits

October 15, 2024 8 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Detention / GCIV and the internment of protected persons / IHL / Special Themes Tilman Rodenhäuser

Detention by non-state armed groups is a widespread, diverse, and legally complex occurrence in armed ...

From the Middle East to West Africa: responding to the humanitarian impacts of improvised anti-personnel mines

February 8, 2024 13 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Landmines and the Law / Weapons Josephine Dresner

Though remarkable progress has been made towards the eradication of anti-personnel landmines (APM) since the adoption of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) ...

Protecting education from non-state armed group attacks

September 12, 2023 11 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Children in conflict / Education in Armed Conflict / IHL / Protection of education Jerome Marston

Non-state armed groups are responsible for a significant proportion of attacks that kill and injure ...

Detention by non-State armed groups: translating law to practice

April 4, 2023 11 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Detention / Humanitarian Action / Law and Conflict Tilman Rodenhäuser & Eloïse Lefebvre

From the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north of Syria, ...

A common enemy: aggregating intensity in non-international armed conflicts

April 22, 2021 17 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Law and Conflict Chiara Redaelli

Contemporary non-international armed conflicts are increasingly fought by a myriad of non-State actors, often engaging in hostilities against a common enemy and at ...

ICRC engagement with non-State armed groups: why and how

March 4, 2021 9 mins read Access / Analysis / Armed Groups / Humanitarian Action / Influencing Behaviour in Armed Conflict / Sexual Violence Jelena Pejic, Irénée Herbet & Tilman Rodenhäuser

In 2020, the ICRC counted 614 armed groups of concern to the organization’s humanitarian operations ...

Aggregated intensity: classifying coalitions of non-State armed groups

October 7, 2020 15 mins read Analysis / Armed Groups / Law and Conflict / Religion Jelena Nikolic, Thomas de Saint Maurice & Tristan Ferraro

With an ever-increasing number of non-State armed groups and a growing tendency for non-international armed conflicts (NIAC) to be fought by coalitions, it ...