Casualty Recording

Airwars is a member of the global Casualty Recorders Network and our open source methodology has been developed over more than a decade. Here’s how it works.

Our team conducts daily monitoring of local language media and social media sites, recording all allegations of civilian casualties.

Where a civilian is reportedly harmed, researchers collect all available information – including from local resident social media pages, on-the-ground footage, international news agencies, and NGOs. This helps build a comprehensive picture of each incident, and all media is digitally preserved.

This information is brought into an incident report detailing how the strike happened, who was harmed, and what their lives were like before conflict. These are written to document but also to recognise the human cost of war, intending dignity, longevity and humanity for those harmed.

Every incident is geolocated to the highest possible accuracy, from “Exact Locations” (with visual proof) down to broader areas like neighborhoods or districts when precise coordinates aren’t available.

The assessments form the basis of much of Airwars’ work – helping reveal patterns of civilian harm, exposing gaps in accountability and official reporting, and ensuring those killed are remembered as people, not statistics.

You can read our full methodology here.