Deliberate attacks on water systems have become ‘more frequent, varied and geographically widespread’

Lilia Sebouai

Global Health Security Reporter

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Lilia Sebouai is a reporter for The Telegraph’s Global Health Security and Foreign desks. She covers topics including infectious disease, emerging threats, humanitarian crises and conflict.

Published 05 November 2026 12:01am GMT

Water infrastructure is coming increasingly under attack in conflict zones, leading to disease outbreaks and forcing civilians to make dangerous journeys to fill buckets, according to a new report.

Water Under Fire , published by United Nations children’s agency Unicef, found that attacks have become “more frequent, varied and geographically widespread”.

It said the number of attacks that damaged or destroyed water systems tripled between 2021 and 2025.

Recorded incidents, ranging from strikes on water plants to restrictions on access to water treatment chemicals, rose from less than 45 in eight countries in 2021…