Turkish Military in Iraq & Syria

An internally displaced Kurdish family in northern Iraq, 2016 (Maranie R. Staab)

Belligerent
Turkish Military
Country
Iraq
Syria
start date
end date
Civilian Harm Status
Belligerent Assessment
Declassified Documents
Infrastructure

Incident Code

TS658

Incident date

November 20, 2023

Location

قرية عون الدادات, Awn Al-Dadat Village, Aleppo, Syria

Airwars assessment

On the evening of Monday, November 20th, 2023, at least 13 identified civilians, including one woman, and up to 20 civilians were injured, and a number of civilians were reportedly killed in an artillery strike allegedly carried out by Turkish forces in the village of Aoun Al-Dadat, north of Manbij in Syria.

Initial reports cited between seven and 20 injured civilians who were transferred to Dar Al-Shifa Hospital in Manbij, with some reportedly in critical condition. A local resident of Aoun Al-Dadat told North Press, “The Turkish-backed factions targeted the village on Monday evening, with dozens of mortar shells.” The resident also claimed the bombing caused damage to the properties of residents within the village.

The thirteen civilians who were injured in the strike were named by the sources as Zakur Yahya Musa, Muhammad Yahya Musa. Hussein Faid Al-Ahmad, Ahmed Fawaz Al Mahmoud, Hussein Al-Ahmad, Muhammad Zakaria Al-Mousa, Fatima Al-Ibrahim, Imad Al-Obaid, Abdullah Hassan Al-Sheikh, Abdul Qader Al-Barhou, Latuf Al-Mousa, Hassan Al-Hajji, and Ahmed Mahmoud Khafifa. Ronahi Satellite Channel reported that Muhammad Yahya Musa and Hussein Faid Al-Ahmad had sustained serious injuries in the blast and were in critical condition at the time of publication.

Multiple local sources referenced “killed” in addition to the wounded, but none specified how many people were killed or any additional details. For example, Violations Documentation Center reported about the “death of a number of innocent civilians”.

A Facebook post from Zakariya Alsharafi identified the strikes as occurring “at the transit point for Al-Tarfiq passengers at the Aoun Al-Dadat crossing”.

All of the sources that reported on the incident attributed the strikes to Turkish forces.

The incident occured in the evening.

The victims were named as:

Ahmed Mahmoud Khafifa أحمد محمود خفيفه
Age unknown male injured
Hassan Al-Hajji حسن الحجي
Age unknown male injured
Latuf Al-Mousa لطوف الموسى
Age unknown male injured
Khaled Al-Bakari خالد البكاري
Age unknown male injured
Muhammad Yahya Musa محمد يحيى موسى
Age unknown male injured
Zakur Yahya Musa زكور يحيى موسى
Age unknown male injured
Ahmed Al-Fawaz أحمد الفواز
Age unknown male injured
Muhammad Zakaria Al-Mawas محمد زكريا المواس
Age unknown male injured
Hussein Al-Ahmad حسين الأحمد
Age unknown male injured
Abdullah Sheikh Hassan عبد الله الشيخ حسن
Age unknown male injured
Imad Al-Obaid عماد العبيد
Age unknown male injured
Fatima Al-Ibrahim فاطمة الإبراهيم
Age unknown female injured
Abdul Qader Al-Barhou عبد القادر البرهو
Age unknown male injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • Civilians reported injured
    13–20
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (16) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Redwan alxil facebook

Turkish Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Turkish Military
  • Turkish Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • Civilians reported injured
    13–20
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (16) [ collapse]

Incident Code

TS157

Incident date

February 4, 2018

Location

جنديرس, Jindires, Afrin, Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.391667, 36.693056 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In a private report, the Kurdish Red Crescent listed two civilians, injured followed an alleged Turkish shelling of Jindires, Syria.

The type of weapon is unknown.

No additional details are presently known.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Mohammed Kareem
33 years old male left elbow injury injured
Ahmad Mahmood Diab
65 years old male shrapnel in left thigh and head injury injured

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (1) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Jindires, Afrin, Aleppo (جنديرس), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.391667, 36.693056. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Turkish Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Turkish Military
  • Turkish Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (1) [ collapse]

Incident Code

TS188

Incident date

February 12, 2018

Location

بلبلة, Bulbul, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.770899, 36.818318 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In a private report to Airwars, the Kurdish Red Crescent named the following one civilian as wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling of Bulbul:

‘Bashar Youssef, 27, various shrapnel wounds and a head injury’.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (1) [ collapse]

    • English
    • English

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Bulbul, Afrin (بلبلة), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.770899, 36.818318. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Turkish Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Turkish Military
  • Turkish Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (1) [ collapse]

    • English
    • English

Incident Code

TS295

Incident date

October 9, 2019

Location

Mitkalta village, Tal Abyad, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

36.556229, 39.107500 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Subdistrict level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Two or three civilians from the same family – a father, mother, and their child – died in an alleged Turkish strike on Matkalat village in the countryside of Tal Abyad area in the northern countryside of Al-Raqqah, according to local media.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that “three people, a man, his wife, and their child,” died.

However, @NPA_SY put the death toll at two (the man and his wife), reporting that they died when a Turkish airstrike hit their house.

Hawar News named the three victims, but said that the child had survived the attack.

According to Hawar News, “The Turkish army attacked the village of Metlkalta with missiles. Rebia Masmaîl and Mihemed Hac Qadir were slaughtered and their 9-year-old son Rêzan Masmaîl was injured as a result of the missile hitting the vehicle they were in. Rêzan Îsmaîl, who has four brothers and a sister, is being treated at Minbic Hospital.”

The source added: “Nine-year-old Rêzan is unaware of the death of his parents. Enwer Umer, one of Rêzan’s relatives, said: ‘My children called me. They said that four missiles were thrown into the village by the occupying Turkish state. One of the missiles hit a vehicle carrying Rêzan and his family”.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (3)

Adult female killed
Adult male killed
9 years old male killed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 3
  • (1 child1 woman1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (11) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • Kurdish Red Crescent list of casualties caused by Turkish military attacks between 9 and 13 Oct 2019

  • Mrs. Rabeah Ismail and her husband Mohammad Hajj Qader Ismail. (via SN4HR)

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the subdistrict of Mitkalta village, Tal Abyad, for which the generic coordinates are: 36.556229, 39.107500. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Turkish Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Turkish Military
  • Turkish Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 3
  • (1 child1 woman1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (11) [ collapse]