Conflict-related deaths  Direct deaths are deaths where there are reasonable grounds to believe that they resulted directly from war operations and that the acts, decisions and/or purposes that caused these deaths were in furtherance of or under the guise of armed conflict. These deaths may have been caused by (i) the use of weapons or (ii) other means and methods. Deaths caused by the use of weapons, include but are not limited to those inflicted by firearms, missiles, mines, and bladed weapons. They may also include deaths resulting from aerial attacks and bombardments (e.g. of military bases, cities and villages), cross-fire, explosive remnants of war, targeted killings or assassinations, force protection incidents. Deaths caused by other means and methods may include deaths from torture or sexual and gender-based violence, intentional killing using starvation, depriving prisoners of access to health care or denying access to essential goods and services (e.g. an ambulance stopped at a check point).  Indirect deaths are deaths resulting from a loss of access to essential goods and services (e.g. economic slowdown, shortages of medicines or reduced farming capacity that result in lack of access to adequate food, water, sanitation, health care and safe conditions of work) that are caused or aggravated by the situation of armed conflict. If a nexus between direct deaths with the conflict can be established, or reasonably assumed, then they should be counted in indicator 16.1.2.15 By definition, these deaths should be separated from other violent deaths, which are in principle not connected to the situation of armed conflict, (e.g. intentional and non-intentional homicides, self-defence, self-inflicted), but are still relevant to the implementation and measurement of SDG target 16.1. The ICCS provides definitional elements and classification of violent deaths both related and not related to armed conflict. The ICCS provides indications on how to distinguish between intentional homicides, killings directly related to war/armed conflict and killings that amount to war crimes.16 Operational challenges to implement these definitions when recording and counting conflictrelated deaths are addressed below through the methodological guidance for documented direct deaths. OHCHR will continue its engagement with UNODC and WHO to ensure consistent measurement of conflict-related deaths (16.1.2) and intentional homicides (16.1.1). 5