

Conflicts since the late 20th century in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda, as well as the ongoing ones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Yemen, Ukraine, and Syria, are just a few illustrations of the pervasive character of NIACs.

NIACs constitute the oldest form of armed conflicts and have become, since the end of the Cold War, more pervasive and more lethal than international armed conflicts.

It is also often called “internal armed conflict,” as opposed to an international armed conflict involving at least two states. A noninternational armed conflict (NIAC) or civil war-as it used to be called in the past-is an armed conflict that occurs within the territory of a particular state, between government armed forces and organized armed groups, or between such groups fighting each other.
