Ongoing Armed Conflicts

Wikipedia has a list of ongoing armed conflicts, ranked by number of deaths per year (with the 2023 combined military and civilian deaths on all sides shown). The two largest (Ukraine and Israel) have international components, while the rest are basically civil wars and insurgencies.

A few observations: 

* most are insurgencies or civil wars, only a few are international wars between organized national military forces;

* lots of conflicts have an ethnic/religious dimension (especially Islamist movements), with the collection of conflicts in multiple countries that I call the Sahel War most notable among them, the several Kurdish insurgencies are also notable, and several related to the fall of the Soviet Union;

* lots of conflicts have a drug war dimension (especially in Latin America and the Caribbean);

* many of the smaller conflicts are the tail end of formerly more intense conflicts.

It lists five major wars:

#1 Ukraine War. 71,235–95,088+

#2 Arab-Israel conflict in Gaza and Lebanon. 23,424–32,519

#3 Sahel War. 14,728

#4 Sudanese Civil War (two rival factions of the military government of Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under the Janjaweed leader Hemedti). 7,757–13,225

#5 Myanmar Conflict. 3,065–15,773

Followed by 16 "wars":

#6 Mexican Drug War. 7,168–13,877

#7 Boko Haram insurgency (which I would tend to lump in as part of the Sahel War). 5,182

#8 Kivu conflict, a highly fractured insurgency at its root mostly a Tutsi-Hutu conflict in the wake of the Second Congo War (now involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda). 4,617

#9 Civil war in Somalia. 4,420–9,343

#10 Muslim/non-Muslim-herder/farmer violence in Nigeria (which I would also lump in as part of the Sahel War). 3,300–3,900

#11 Insurgencies/civil war in Ethiopia. 2,225–3,830

#12 Sudanese nomadic conflict (ethnic violence in South Sudan). 1,249.

#13 Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. 1,164–1,300

#14 Yemeni civil war. 926–3,381

#15 Conflict with ISIS in Iraq. 480–1,338

#16 Pemon conflict centered around mining disputes between the Maduro government, the Pemon nation (indigenous people that live in the Gran Sabana region in southeastern Venezuela) and armed irregular groups in Venezuela. 472–2,558

#17 Gang war in Haiti. 435–4,451

#18 Afghan conflict. 342–1,041

#19 Cameroon Civil War. 338-1,042

#20 Syrian Civil War. 56–6,211

#21 Conflict for control of favelas in Rio, Brazil. 41–2,288.

Minor conflicts

    #22 Kashmir insurgency in India and Pakistan. 706

    #23 Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency in Pakistan and Iran. 600

    #24 Central African Republic Civil War also related to the Sahel War. 546.

    #25 Insurgency in NE India. 540

    #26 Jamaican political conflict. 397

    #27 Naxalite-Maoist insurgency in India. 360

    #28 Philippine drug war. 269

    #29 Kurdish insurgency in Iran. 198

    #30 Papua conflict (independence from Indonesia movement). 179

    #31 Delta conflict in SE Nigeria (Biafra nationalist). 150

    #32 Kurdish insurgency in Turkey. 136

    #33 Honduran gang crackdown. 112-647

    #34 Islamic state insurgency in North Caucasus. 10

    #35 Armenia-Azerbaijan border crisis. 462-594

    #36 Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado (Mozambique) 275-321

    #37 New People's Army Rebellion in the Philippines (Maoist). 259-580

    #38 Internal conflicts in Bangladesh. 12-328

    #39 Ethnic violence in Papua New Guinea. 1-337

Skirmishes and clashes

    #40 Libyan crisis. 89

    #41Peruvian conflict. 75

    #42 Cabinda War in Angola. 66

    #43 Ecuadorian drug war. 60

    #44 South Thailand insurgency. 57

    #45 Salvadoran gang crackdown. 56

    #46 Casamanse conflict in Senegal. 48

    #47 Western DR Congo clashes. 43+

    #48 Western Saharan clashes. 38

    #49 Insurgency in Northern Chad (arguably part of Sahel War). 37

    #50 Kurdish insurgency in Iraq. 21-25+ 

    #51 Insurgency in Egypt. 21

    #52 Korean War. 12

    #53 Insurgency in Paraguay. 10

    #54 Lord's Resistance Army insurgency (Africa). 3

    #55 Katanga insurgency in DR Congo. 2

    #56 Georgian-Ossetian conflict. 2

Broken out by region

Europe:

#1 Ukraine War 

#34 Islamic state insurgency in North Caucasus. 

#35 Armenia-Azerbaijan border crisis. 

#56 Georgian-Ossetian conflict. 

 

Middle East, North Africa, and West Asia:

#2 Arab-Israel conflict in Gaza and Lebanon.

#14 Yemeni civil war.

#15 Conflict with ISIS in Iraq.

#20 Syrian Civil War. 

#29 Kurdish insurgency in Iran.  

#32 Kurdish insurgency in Turkey.  

#40 Libyan crisis. 

#48 Western Saharan clashes. 

#50 Kurdish insurgency in Iraq. 

#51 Insurgency in Egypt.

Sub-Saharan Africa:

#3 Sahel War.

#4 Sudanese Civil War.

#7 Boko Haram insurgency (really part of the Sahel War).

#8 Kivu conflict, a highly fractured insurgency at its root mostly a Tutsi-Hutu conflict in the wake of the Second Congo War (now involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda).

#9 Civil war in Somalia.

#10 Muslim/non-Muslim-herder/farmer violence in Nigeria (which I would also lump in as part of the Sahel War).

#11 Insurgencies/civil war in Ethiopia.

#12 Sudanese nomadic conflict (ethnic violence in South Sudan).

#19 Cameroon Civil War (English v. French colonial legacies). 

#24 Central African Republic Civil War (also related to the Sahel War).  

#31 Delta conflict in SE Nigeria (Biafra nationalists)  

#36 Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado (Mozambique) 

#42 Cabinda War in Angola (former Portugese enclave of related tribes).  

#46 Casamanse conflict in Senegal (non-Wolof, non-Muslim minority seeking autonomy). 

#47 Western DR Congo clashes. 

#49 Insurgency in Northern Chad (arguably part of Sahel War). 

#54 Lord's Resistance Army insurgency (Africa).  

#55 Katanga insurgency in DR Congo. 

 

Central and South Asia:

#5 Myanmar Conflict (anti-coup and Muslim minorities).

#13 Islamist insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

#18 Afghan conflict. 

#22 Kashmir insurgency in India and Pakistan. 

#23 Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency in Pakistan and Iran.  

#25 Insurgency in NE India. 

#27 Naxalite-Maoist insurgency in India. 

#38 Internal conflicts in Bangladesh. 

Southeast Asia:

#28 Philippine drug war.

#30 Papua conflict (independence from Indonesia movement).

#37 New People's Army Rebellion in the Philippines (Maoist).

#39 Ethnic violence in Papua New Guinea.

#44 South Thailand insurgency.

  

Latin America and the Caribbean:

#6 Mexican Drug War.

#16 Pemon conflict centered around mining disputes between the Maduro government, the Pemon nation (indigenous people that live in the Gran Sabana region in southeastern Venezuela) and armed irregular groups in Venezuela.

#17 Gang war in Haiti.

#21 Conflict for control of favelas in Rio, Brazil. 

#26 Jamaican political conflict. 

#33 Honduran gang crackdown. 

#41 Peruvian conflict (Maoist insurgency). 

#43 Ecuadorian drug war.  

#45 Salvadoran gang crackdown. 

#53 Insurgency in Paraguay (Marxist/drug war). 

East Asia:

#52 Korean War.