In 1994, 31 major armed conflicts were waged in 27 locations around the world, compared with 33 conflicts and 28 conflict locations in 1993 (revised data). As in 1993, no 'classical' interstate war was waged. However, in 5 of the 31 conflicts recorded for 1994, other states participated in the fighting with regular forces: Armenia in the conflict in Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh; Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in the conflict between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bosnian Serbs; Croatia in Bosnia and Herzegovina versus Bosnian Croats; Russia and Uzbekistan in the conflict in Tajikistan; and a peacekeeping/peace enforcement force comprising forces from several African states in Liberia.

The most destructive conflict in terms of the total number of human lives during the year was the war in Rwanda since it was accompanied by genocidal massacres by Hutu extremists, targeting other Hutu as well as Tutsi. High death tolls were also recorded for Algeria, Angola, Turkey, Afghanistan and Yemen.

Two new major armed conflicts were added in 1994: the war in Yemen, which broke out in May and ended in July; and the conflict between the Myanmar Government and the Mong Tai Army, over the status of the self-declared Shan State.

In December 1994 armed conflict broke out in Chechnya, between the unilaterally declared independent Republic of Chechnya and the Russian Government. By the end of the year, however, the number of deaths had not risen above 1000, the threshold criterion for it to be registered as a major armed conflict in 1994.

In terms of the regional distribution of conflict locations, Europe again exhibits an upward trend for the past five years. The most significant trend is seen in Central and South America, with a decline followed by a stable trend since 1992.

A peace process has ended a major armed conflict in South Africa, and cease-fire agreements or other arrangements reduced the fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Azerbaijan, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the conflict between the government and Bosnian Croat forces), in the Abkhazia conflict in Georgia and in Bangladesh. In some situations, the presence of UN peacekeeping forces contributed to the implementation of a cease-fire and a reduction in the number of deaths.

* Appendix 1A, by Margareta Sollenberg, Ramses Amer, Carl Johan Åsberg, Birger Heldt, Ann-Sofi Jakobsson, Kjell-Åke Nordquist, Thomas Ohlson and Anna Schnell, gives data on the major armed conflicts of 1994.