Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

TI049

Incident date

August 25, 2020

Location

Bahrava, Nineveh, Iraq

Geolocation

36.419798, 41.545744 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Geolocation accuracy

Village

Airwars assessment

Two civilians were reported killed in Sinjar, Iraq when Turkish drones allegedly struck two vehicles in the evening of August 25th, 2020. The exact location was identified by local sources as Bhrava, Khansur located in the northern Nineveh province.

Iraqi Security Media reported that Turkish drones targeted a double-wheeled pickup truck in the village of Bhrava in Khansur complex in north of Sinjar, and that two civilians were killed while the driver managed to flee.

Head of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) press office in Nineveh Ghayas Surchi said that the victims weren’t affiliated with Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS).

However, Khudeda Chuke, mayor of Sinune town, was reported by Rudaw as saying that ‘a vehicle belonging to the Shingal Protection Units (YBS), a Yezidi armed group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was hit in the vicinity of Bahraviyan village, seven kilometres west of the town of Khanasor. Thankfully, there were no casualties in the bombing,” Chuke said, adding the airstrike struck the vehicle at a YBS base.

It was also reported that another site was struck by Turkish drones in the village of Bara, but there is no information yet about civilian casualties there.

The incident occured at approximately 7:00 pm local time.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military
  • Suspected target
    Other

Sources (23) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Bahrava, for which the generic coordinates are: 36.419798, 41.545744. 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, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military
  • Suspected target
    Other

Sources (23) [ collapse]