Urban warfare

Urban warfare is armed conflict that takes place in towns or cities with active civilian populations. Conventional definitions focus on military and insurgent groups fighting battles in developed areas as part of a wider conflict, but some expand the concept to cover situations such as militia patrols and large-scale gang violence. Urban combat holds the potential to be highly destructive, since cities are densely populated and host intricate, interdependent infrastructures.

Commentators also note that many military weapons are not designed with urban warfare in mind, making their use in the confined quarters of developed areas more destructive and dangerous for combatants and civilians.

While urban warfare is not a new concept, it has become an increasingly prominent feature of modern armed conflict. As such, some experts have called for updates to international humanitarian laws to specifically address the legal issues arising from urban warfare.

Brief History

Historical assessments of warfare tend to conform to the generally held notion that open-field combat was the dominant form of armed battle until the twentieth century. However, some experts argue that urban warfare actually occupies a far more prominent place in military history. Proponents of this perspective point out that attacks and sieges on cities and their fortifications were not only common, but also one of the most frequently deployed tactics in organized combat throughout history. Some retroactive reviews of military history even conclude that open-field engagement only became the definitive form of warfare during the Napoleonic Era (1803–1815). After this, it receded in importance during and after World War II (1939–1945). Not all historians agree with these viewpoints, but nonetheless indicate that urban warfare has a well-established historical precedent that predates the rise of modern cities.

During World War II, the Axis and Allied forces both recognized the importance of controlling key cities as a means of advancing their broader strategies. Urban warfare thus emerged as a critical factor, and many of World War II’s most important battles occurred in urban areas. In 1940 and 1941, German forces relentlessly bombed London and other British cities during an operation known as the Blitz. Other examples featured open fighting on the ground in densely populated urban areas, as occurred during the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943), the Battle of Aachen (1944), and the Battle of Berlin (1945).

Since World War II, urban warfare has emerged as the dominant form of armed combat. Experts point to numerous factors in explaining the trend. Dramatic demographic shifts that have seen major rises in global urbanization rates are a major influence. Insurgency warfare has also become more common since World War II, with traditional open engagements between opposing armies becoming less common. In many cases, insurgent groups have smaller numbers and less advanced weaponry than their organized military opponents. Thus, they often endeavor to lure opposing combatants into urban areas to gain a tactical advantage.

Topic Today

Military strategists note that urban warfare necessitates the use of dramatically different tactics than open-field combat. In open-field combat, opposing armies directly engage one another in large numbers. This is both impractical and strategically undesirable in urban areas; the physical layout of streets and buildings makes it difficult to deploy large numbers of troops in a single locality. Overcommitting forces in confined urban spaces can also lead to heavy casualties and territorial losses, as it enables opponents to use surprise countermeasures to trap large numbers of enemies. Thus, modern urban warfare typically involves smaller bands of combatants. Tacticians use city features like streets, buildings, passageways, and underground infrastructure to gain an advantage over their opponents.

The strategies used by Islamic State (IS) forces in cities like Mosul, Raqqa, and Damascus are examples of modern urban warfare tactics. In their preparations, IS forces accumulated weapons and supplies, which they safeguarded behind barricaded defensive positions that were often fortified with trenches. IS fighters also destroyed buildings, so their soldiers had better sightlines as their opponents approached. Fighters covered these positions with heavy fire to stop the enemy from entering the city. Airstrikes against these fortifications became the only effective countermeasure, which IS knew their opponents were reluctant to use because they wanted to avoid injuring or killing civilians. When opposing forces did manage to advance into the city, IS fighters shifted tactics and used snipers and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to slow them down and gain a psychological advantage. In addition, IS deployed commercially manufactured drone aircraft in large numbers and used them to drop bombs on enemy positions. The group also made effective use of car bombs, known militarily as suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (SVBIEDs), to launch attacks targeting large numbers of opponents using relatively few human and material assets.

Because urban areas have emerged as the principal places of armed conflict, the US Armed Forces and other national militaries have emphasized urban warfare tactics and strategies during their on-the-ground training. In the late 1980s, American military academies created their first urban warfare training locations, known as military operations on urban terrain (MOUT) sites. The US Army, Marine Corps, and other national military divisions now require soldiers to undergo extensive instruction in urban warfare as part of their standard training.

Humanitarian organizations have also turned their focus to urban warfare as part of an effort to create modernized international laws to govern armed conflict. Such initiatives emphasize three key principles: proportionality, distinction, and necessity. The proportionality principle requires that military forces take all necessary measures to avoid harming civilians; the distinction principle demands that combatants on both sides differentiate themselves from civilians so they can be clearly identified; and the necessity principle allows military forces to conduct the needed operations to achieve military objectives that do not constitute war crimes under international treaties. However, some commentators argue that such measures have limited practical applicability, as the insurgent groups that are increasingly involved in modern warfare frequently display little regard for the provisions of international humanitarian law.

Urban warfare and its associated difficulties returned to international news in 2023, when Israel invaded Gaza in response to Hamas's October 7, 2023 terrorist attack, in which thousands of Israelis were killed. Prior to the invasion, Gaza was considered one of the most densely populated regions in the world. More than 46 thousand lives were lost in the conflict between Hamas and the Israeli military.

Bibliography

Caro, Carlo J.V. "Unpacking the History of Urban Warfare and Its Challenges in Gaza." Stimson, 17 Oct. 2023, www.stimson.org/2023/unpacking-the-history-of-urban-warfare-and-its-challenges-in-gaza/. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

DiMarco, Louis. Concrete Hell: Urban Warfare from Stalingrad to Iraq. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012.

DiMarco, Louis. “Urban Warfare.” Oxford Bibliographies,28 Feb. 2017, www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199791279/obo-9780199791279-0171.xml. Accessed 3 Apr. 2019.

South, Todd. “Using Lessons Learned, Soldiers and Marines Are Training for Urban Combat.” Military Times,6 Mar. 2018, www.militarytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/03/06/using-lessons-learned-soldiers-and-marines-are-training-for-urban-combat/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2019.

“Urban Warfare.” RAND Corporation,1994–2019, www.rand.org/topics/urban-warfare.html. Accessed 3 Apr. 2019.