The use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas and the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks

37th round table on current issues of international humanitarian law: Conduct of hostilities: the Practice, the Law and the Future,  Sanremo, 4 - 6 September 2014.  Article by Laurent Gisel, legal adviser at the ICRC.

This presentation is divided in three parts. The first part discusses the notion of indiscriminate attack. The second part highlights the effects of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in light of the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks. The last part proposes a few forward-looking considerations