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Home > ICRC Humanitarian Law and Policy Blog > Feasible precautions during urban attacks: the ‘art’ of the practically possible


	Podcast:		ICRC Humanitarian Law and Policy Blog
	Episode:		Feasible precautions during urban attacks: the ‘art’ of the practically possible
	Category:		News & Politics
	Duration:		00:16:32
	Publish Date:		2021-06-01 12:20:57
	Description:		Every military operation conducted within a city is likely to affect the people living there, a reality reflected in the law of war rules that oblige the taking of precautionary measures to spare the civilian population, civilians, and civilian objects. Central to those rules is the concept of feasibility – the requirement that parties do everything that is practically possible to avoid, and in any event minimize, civilian harm. Yet the complex characteristics of cities make them the most demanding combat environment within which to implement precautionary measures. The cluttered and congested terrain might preclude the employment of a preferred means of attack, for instance, just as the unique humanitarian considerations of urban warfare might mandate military commanders to impose constraints upon the methods of attack that would be unnecessary in other theatres of combat. In this post, concluding the first installment of our urban warfare series, Major Jon Griffiths introduces the particular obligation to take precautions in attack and the corresponding complexities posed by the characteristics of urban warfare. He concludes that although the practical possibility of taking precautionary measures during attacks is situational, it is important to understand and apply the concept of feasibility in good faith, if practitioners are to preserve the delicate balance between military necessity and humanity.
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