Mortars are short-barreled, high-angle indirect-fire weapons used by infantry, artillery units, and armed groups for close support, harassment, and attacks on positions behind cover. The catalog entry treats mortars as a broad weapon class because the direct conflict sources usually document mortar use without identifying exact calibers or models, including Philippine government support fires at Marawi, Hezbollah fire at Mount Dov, jihadist attacks in Mali and Sinai, FARC dissident improvised mortars in Colombia, Sudan War battlefield use, and Cambodia-accused cross-border fire.
Australian Army Research Centre reporting on the Battle of Marawi says a company from the Philippine Army's 2nd Infantry Division fired more than 10,000 mortar rounds in three months, with mortars providing intimate support during urban clearing; the source does not identify the mortar calibers or models.
The City Paper Bogota reported that FARC dissidents' 36th Front was attributed by early intelligence to an August 2025 attack in Antioquia where eradication-support personnel were first hit with home-made mortars and gunfire before a drone brought down a police Black Hawk; the source does not identify a standardized mortar model.
Times of Israel reporting, citing the IDF and Hezbollah, says Hezbollah launched two mortars at the Mount Dov area on 2 December 2024, the first fire from Lebanon after the truce; the rounds landed in open areas and the specific mortar type was not identified.
Associated Press reporting carried by ABC7 said a mortar attack on the MINUSMA base in Kidal killed two UN peacekeepers and a contractor on 28 November 2015; no group claimed the attack, but Islamic extremists were suspected, and the exact mortar model was not identified.
NCTC attributes a June 2015 rocket and mortar attack on the Multinational Force and Observers base in Sinai to Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis after its Islamic State alignment, while VICE reported Wilayat Sinai's claim for a March 2016 mortar attack on an Egyptian security checkpoint south of el-Arish.
Amnesty International's Sudan arms investigation reported that mortars manufactured in China were used by both sides of the Sudan War and that recent Chinese mortars were used in El-Daein, East Darfur; the public summary does not assign those specific mortars to a single belligerent.
Al Jazeera and Straits Times reporting cited the Thai army's accusation that Cambodian forces fired mortar rounds into Ubon Ratchathani province on 6 January 2026, wounding one Thai soldier; Cambodia described the incident as accidental or denied intentional fire.
