5 world's most war-torn countries

According to World Atlas Nigeria ranks sixth amongst the world's most war-torn countries. Overall, the world became more peaceful in 2017 compared to 2016.

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In the past year, 93 countries became more peaceful, while 68 countries became less peaceful, according to the index.

1. Syria

Syria is ranked last on the Global Peace Index, making it the most violent country in the world due to the war.

Currently, the gravity of the civil war situation in Syria is drawing attention from across the globe. The war started with the spread of the wave of Arab Spring protests in Syria in the early spring of 2011. The war has displaced more than 11 million Syrians from their homelands and claimed the lives of at least 250,000 people. Although peace initiatives have been attempted, fighting continues on as of the end of 2017.

2. Iraq

The Second Kurdish–Iraqi War (1974–1975), the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), and the Gulf War (1990–1991) are some of the major wars fought by Iraq in the past century. In 2014, the Iraqi insurgency achieved the status of a Civil War when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) conquered major areas in northern Iraq.

The ISIS militants, not limiting their actions to only Iraq, have also terrorized much of the world with their acts of extreme violence. This has forced countries like the U.S., Iran, Syria, and other countries to aid the Iraqi Government to resist the growth and spread of ISIS militants. A shocking study reveals that around half a million Iraqis, including those killed directly or indirectly, lost their lives to warfare between 2003 and 2011.

3. Afghanistan

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Beginning in 2001, U.S. forces raided Afghanistan to first topple the Taliban and then gradually ensure the complete eradication of the Taliban from Afghan territory while rebuilding core institutions in the country. However, despite all of the measures undertaken, insurgency clashes and Taliban attacks continue to persist in the country. The current war situation in Afghanistan continues to claim civilian lives through bombings, crossfires, assassinations, and improvised explosive devices.

4. Mexico

Although the country is not currently engaged in any formal war or civil war, the Mexican Drug War remains one of the deadliest conflicts of the current age.

The war has officially been ongoing since 2006, and it is estimated that as many as 120,000 people have lost their lives while an additional number of people, estimated to be around 27,000, have been declared missing as a result of it.

5. Somalia

Famine, conflict and drought displaced one million people throughout Somalia last year alone. In 2015, similar large-scale destruction of such settlements took place in the same Kahda district, with more than 21,000 people forcibly removed from their makeshift shacks.