Legal Analysis of Armed Conflict under the International Humanitarian Law [IHL]

The law of armed conflicts applies to those who are participating in hostilities. To decide whether the IHL would govern over the situation of hostilities depends upon the situation amounts to an armed conflict under the IHL. There is no acceptance of the unitary theory of armed conflict. Still, it is recognized for classifying two kinds of armed conflicts: international or inter-state [IAC] and non-international (NIAC) or within the state. This research paper examines the peculiarity of these two categories of armed conflict and its validity. This paper also analyses the legal concept and distinction between NIAC and IAC, extra-territorial hostilities by one State against non-state actors, and conflicts in which transnational forces are engaged, called internationalized armed conflict.