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'Conflict Trends': Civil wars, international fights hit high

Deutsche Welle · 🇩🇪 public Germany · · 540 words · By Natalie Muller
Global Conflict Trends State-based Violence Humanitarian Impact
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'Conflict Trends': Civil wars, international fights hit high June 9, 2026There were 65 conflicts involving at least one state recorded worldwide last year, a new high since 1946, according to a study published Tuesday.

Claims checked 14
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage
Left17%
Center83%
Right0%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

'Conflict Trends': Civil wars, international fights hit high June 9, 2026There were 65 conflicts involving at least one state recorded worldwide last year, a new high since 1946, according to a study published Tuesday.

Why it matters

The annual "Conflict Trends” report from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) found that 2025 was also the third-deadliest year for conflict since the Cold War, with more deaths only in 1994 and 2021.

Common ground

"Usually I'm able to sort of squeeze something positive out of it, but this year it's shocking, the numbers," researcher Siri Aas Rustad told reporters.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dw.com/en/conflict-trends-civil-wars-international-fights-hit-high/a…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
info Single Source 4
schedule Pending 4
verified Verified 1
info
Claim 1: “The report found there were 75 non-state conflicts in 2025, a slight decline from 79 in 2024.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific figures for non-state conflicts (75 in 2025 vs 79 in 2024) are only provided in the Deutsche Welle report.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The report found there were 75 non-state conflicts in 2025, a slight decline from 79 in 2024.
https://www.dw.com/en/conflict-trends-civil-wars-internation…
verified
Claim 2: “The PRIO research is based on figures compiled by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), linked to Uppsala University in Sweden.”
VERIFIED
The link between PRIO research and the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) at Uppsala University is confirmed by multiple academic and news sources.
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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 25, 2022 ... Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University. 2Peace ... According to the Uppsala Conflict Data. Program (UCDP), nearly ...
https://viewsforecasting.org/wp-content/uploads/ViEWS_Compar…
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web search NEUTRAL — The importance of these efforts can hardly be overstated. According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), nearly 1,000,000 people were killed due to ...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016920702…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Uppsala Conflict Data Program Georeferenced Event Dataset. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) Georeferenced Event Dataset (GED) was officially.
https://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/35674/1/Racek_Daniel.pdf
+ 1 more evidence source
schedule
Claim 3: “Only 1994 and 2021 were more deadly. That was put down to the Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 people were massacred, and the civil war in Ethiopia's Tigray region in which hundreds of thousands were killed between 2020 and 2022.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 4: “Africa was the continent most affected by state-based conflict, followed by Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Europe.”
CORROBORATED
The ranking of continents most affected by state-based conflict (Africa, Asia, Middle East, Americas, Europe) is reported by Deutsche Welle and two other independent web sources citing the PRIO report.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Africa was the continent most affected by state-based conflict, followed by Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Europe. Nigerian soldiers sit on the back of a vehicle in Damboa in the country's no…
https://www.dw.com/en/conflict-trends-civil-wars-internation…
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web search NEUTRAL — Africa remained the continent most affected by state-based conflict, followed by Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Europe. Nigeria has been battling a deadly jihadi insurgency for more than a de…
https://timeskuwait.com/prio-report-says-nearly-245000-peopl…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — There are now 59 active state-based conflicts worldwide, the highest number since World War II, and many conflicts are no longer confined within national borders. In fact, 78 countries are involved in…
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-dang…
+ 1 more evidence source
info
Claim 5: “It said that there had been a particularly notable drop in lethal violence between Mexican drug cartels last year.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim regarding a drop in lethal violence between Mexican drug cartels is only mentioned in the Deutsche Welle report.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — It said that there had been a particularly notable drop in lethal violence between Mexican drug cartels last year.
https://www.dw.com/en/conflict-trends-civil-wars-internation…
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Claim 6: “clashes between India and Pakistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Cambodia and Thailand, as well as Russia's ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine.”
CORROBORATED
The specific interstate conflicts (India/Pakistan, Afghanistan/Pakistan, Cambodia/Thailand, and Russia/Ukraine) are listed in Deutsche Welle and multiple other web reports citing the PRIO study.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The India–Pakistan war of 1965, also known as the second India–Pakistan war, was an armed conflict between Pakistan and India that took place from August 1965 to September 1965. The conflict began fol…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India–Pakistan_war_of_1965
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan to use the water available in the Indus River system in the territories of the two countries. The treaty was neg…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Waters_Treaty
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of interstate wars since 1945. Interstate warfare has been defined as military conflict between separate states over a territory, including irregular military forces legitimized by the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_interstate_wars_since_…
+ 4 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 7: “Nearly 76,500 of the battle-related deaths were attributed to attacks directly targeting civilians — a dramatic increase from 14,200 in 2024.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 8: “According to the report, some 245,000 people were killed in battle-related deaths in 2025”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 9: “There were 65 conflicts involving at least one state recorded worldwide last year, a new high since 1946, according to a study published Tuesday.”
CORROBORATED
The claim that 65 state-based conflicts were recorded in 2025, a record since 1946, is reported by Deutsche Welle and RT World, and attributed to the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 65 may refer to: 65 (number), the natural number following 64 and preceding 66 One of the years 65 BC, AD 65, 1965, 2065 65 (film), a 2023 American science fiction thriller film The atomic number of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/65
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Directive 65/65/EEC1 was the first European pharmaceutical directive. (Dated 26 January 1965.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_65/65/EEC
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a decommissioned United States Navy aircraft carrier. In 1958, she became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, and the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CVN-65)
+ 4 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 10: “The PRIO report said there were more deaths due to fighting from the past five years than the entire two decades prior to 2021.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 11: “Israel, for example, was simultaneously party to multiple different conflicts — in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Iran and against Houthi rebels in Yemen.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific list of simultaneous conflicts involving Israel (Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and Houthi rebels) is only mentioned in the Deutsche Welle report; other sources discuss Israel's general situation but not this specific list as a PRIO finding.
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web search NEUTRAL — The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically been used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel and the entire Jewish people respectively.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
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web search NEUTRAL — The history of Israel spans the Southern Levant, from prehistoric African migrations and the Natufian culture (c. 10,000 BCE) to the emergence of Canaanite civilization.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Lazar lays out what the US-Iran escalation means for Israel, and why Jerusalem remains on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Arab countries are working to develop alternatives to Hormuz
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 12: “The number of conflicts between states also hit a new 80-year peak, doubling from 2024 to eight”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (Deutsche Welle, NPR, and other web results) confirm that interstate conflicts reached a peak of eight in 2025, doubling from 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2025 (MMXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2025th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 25th year of the 3rd millennium and the 2…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Housemaid is a 2025 American erotic psychological thriller film directed by Paul Feig and written by Rebecca Sonnenshine. It is based on the 2022 novel by Freida McFadden, and stars Sydney Sweeney…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Housemaid_(2025_film)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Running Man is a 2025 science-fiction action film co-produced and directed by Edgar Wright, from a screenplay by Wright and Michael Bacall. It is the second adaptation of the 1982 novel by Stephen…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Running_Man_(2025_film)
+ 4 more evidence sources
info
Claim 13: “Some 35 countries were involved in fighting, but less than half of them had only one conflict.”
SINGLE SOURCE
Only the Deutsche Welle cross-reference mentions the specific figure of 35 countries involved in fighting and the distribution of conflicts per country; web searches did not provide corroborating statistics for this specific detail.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On June 24, 2021, at approximately 1:22 a.m. EDT, Champlain Towers South, a 12-story beachfront condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida, United States, partially collapsed, causing the de…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfside_condominium_collapse
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for air superiority and strike missi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Mercedes 35 hp (German: Mercedes 35 PS) was a radical early car model designed in 1901 by Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler, for Emil Jellinek. Produced in Stuttgart, Germany, by Daimler-Motoren-Ge…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes_35_hp
+ 4 more evidence sources
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Claim 14: “The annual "Conflict Trends” report from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) found that 2025 was also the third-deadliest year for conflict since the Cold War, with more deaths only in 1994 and 2021.”
CORROBORATED
The PRIO 'Conflict Trends' report identifying 2025 as the third-deadliest year since the Cold War (surpassed only by 1994 and 2021) is reported by Deutsche Welle and another web source.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country in the Caribbean. It comprises the eponymous main island as well as 4,195 islands, islets, and cays. Situated at the convergence of the Cari…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Johan Vincent Galtung (24 October 1930 – 17 February 2024) was a Norwegian sociologist and the principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies. He was the main founder of the Peace R…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Galtung
+ 4 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.