Legal Definitions - indiscriminate attack

An indiscriminate attack, in international law, refers to an act of aggression during armed conflict that fails to distinguish between military targets and civilians or civilian objects. Such an attack is strictly prohibited because it either:

• Is not aimed at a specific military objective.
• Uses weapons or methods of combat that cannot be directed solely at military targets.
• Employs weapons or methods whose destructive effects cannot be controlled or limited as required by international humanitarian law, such as the Geneva and Hague Conventions.

Essentially, it's an attack that poses an unacceptable risk to civilians because it doesn't target military objectives precisely or its effects are inherently uncontrollable.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Example 1: Targeting a Civilian Area Without Military Presence

  A military force launches missiles into a densely populated urban neighborhood, knowing there are no military facilities, personnel, or strategic assets located there. The stated purpose is to "demoralize the enemy population" or simply to cause widespread damage.

  This illustrates an indiscriminate attack because the act of aggression (launching missiles) is not carried out for a specific military objective. Instead, it targets a civilian area with the intent to cause general harm or terror, rather than to achieve a defined military advantage by striking a legitimate military target.

• Example 2: Using Unguided Weapons Against a Mixed Area

  During a conflict, one side uses a large, unguided rocket artillery system to shell an entire town that contains both a small military outpost and numerous civilian homes and businesses. No specific targeting of the military outpost is attempted; the rockets are simply aimed at the general area of the town.

  This is an indiscriminate attack because it employs a means of combat not directed at a specific military objective. The unguided artillery system, while potentially capable of hitting the military outpost, is used in a way that makes no effort to distinguish it from civilian areas, thereby exposing the civilian population to unnecessary harm.

• Example 3: Deploying Weapons with Uncontrollable Effects

  A combatant group detonates a massive improvised explosive device (IED) with an extremely wide and unpredictable blast radius in a busy market square, even though a small enemy patrol was observed passing through the area earlier. The device's effects are known to be uncontrollable, causing widespread destruction and casualties far beyond any potential military target.

  This exemplifies an indiscriminate attack because it employs a means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited in accordance with international protocols. Even if there was a fleeting military presence, the use of a weapon with such inherently uncontrollable and widespread destructive power in a civilian area makes it impossible to prevent harm to civilians and civilian objects, violating the principle of distinction.