Casualty Recording ▸ Conflicts

Turkish Military in Iraq & Syria

Turkey fought numerous military actors after intervening militarily in the Syrian Civil War in 2015, primarily against Kurdish forces but also at times the Islamic State. In northern Iraq, Turkey’s military campaign against Kurdish militant groups has expanded in recent years.

Airwars has documented hundreds of allegations of civilian harm by Turkish strikes against Kurdish-affiliated forces in Iraq and Syria since 2015.

Airwars estimate of civilian deaths

1,009 – 1,493

Locally reported civilian deaths from declared or likely Turkish Military actions in Iraq and Syria for which the reporting was assessed by Airwars as Fair, or have been Confirmed by the Turkish Military. These originate from 980 separate alleged incidents.

215 – 242
children likely killed
150 – 170
women likely killed
2,439
likely injured
2,230
named victims

Turkish Military estimate of civilian deaths

0

Confirmed civilian deaths, from Turkish Military actions in Iraq and Syria, originating from 0 separate incidents of civilian harm.

civilians confirmed injured
Alleged deaths
1,752 – 2,484
Locally reported civilian deaths from Turkish Military actions in Iraq and Syria.
980 seperate alleged incidents
Confirmed or Fair
1,009 – 1,493
Civilian deaths for which the reporting was assessed by Airwars as Fair, or have been Confirmed by Turkish Military
731 seperate alleged incidents
Weak
116 – 134
Civilian deaths for which the reporting was assessed by Airwars as Weak.
164 seperate alleged incidents
Contested
326 – 556
Civilian deaths for which the reporting is assessed by Airwars as Contested.
82 seperate alleged incidents
Discounted
301
Civilian deaths were Discounted by Airwars after assessment.
2 seperate alleged incidents
969 incidents
Order results by:
Incident Date ↓ Publication Date

Incident Date

17 March 2018

Incident Code

TS281

Location

عفرين, Afrin city, Aleppo, Syria
Three civilians died, and several more were wounded in an alleged Turkish bombing of Afrin city, local media reported. According to ANF, The invading Turkish army continued to massacre civilians on the 57th day of the attacks against Afrin. A building in the city centre was bombed, trapping three civilians in the rubble. One building…

Summary

Published
17 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
3
Civilians reported injured
2
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

17 March 2018

Incident Code

TS282

Location

سري كانيه, Jindires, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
According to ANF, hundreds of civilians were killed as a vehicle convoy carrying Turkish warplanes targeted the civilians who were escaping from invasion attacks on Saturday. Locals say that the convoy was carrying more than 300 civilians and most of them were killed in the attack. However, it should be noted that Jindires was already…

Summary

Published
17 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
300
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

16 March 2018

Incident Code

TS277

Location

عفرين, Afrin city centre, Aleppo, Syria
Up to 21 civilians including five children died and as many of 45 were injured in alleged Turkish shelling of Afrin city centre, according to local media. IC Afrin indicated the death count at 20 reporting that the Turkish army is shelling everywhere in Afrin city and its surroundings. According to the Syrian Observatory for…

Summary

Published
16 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
20–21
Civilians reported injured
29–45
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

16 March 2018

Incident Code

TS278

Location

عفرين, Afrin hospital, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
Between nine and 16 civilians died in alleged Turkish airstrikes on Afrin hospital, according to local media. Pesmerge chali put the death toll and nine, while Rumaf and other sources said that 16 civilians died – reportedly “mostly children and women”. According to the source Aldar xelil: Avrin Hospital was the only medical facility in…

Summary

Published
16 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
9–16
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

15 March 2018

Incident Code

TS275

Location

عفرين, Afrin city centre, Aleppo, Syria
Up to eight civilians including children and women died, and five more were wounded in an alleged Turkish bombing of Afrin city centre, according to sources on the ground in Syria. ANF reported: "According to local sources, another civilian was killed and five were wounded in Turkish bombing on Thursday.  Five injured were identified." Hawar…

Summary

Published
15 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
1–8
Civilians reported injured
5
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

15 March 2018

Incident Code

TS276

Location

ترينيدة, Trinide village or Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
At least five civilians including three children and two women died in alleged Turkish artillery and/or air strikes on Afrin, local media in Syria reported – though there was some uncertainty about the location. Rudaw put the death toll as high as 18. According to Hawar, the Turkish occupation planes bombed the village of Trinide…

Summary

Published
15 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
5–18
Civilians reported injured
5
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Research and Investigations

View all →
17 May, 2023
Visualisation
Iraq

Reported civilian deaths from Turkish Military strikes in Iraq

Database tracks casualties in Iraq during Turkish strikes
6 Sep, 2022
Visualisation
Iraq, Syria

Turkish Military in Iraq and Syria Casualty Map

Turkey has conducted hundreds of unilateral air and artillery strikes in both Syria and Iraq – as well as a small number of actions as part of the US-led Coalition against so-called Islamic State. From July 2015 in Iraq, occasional unilateral Turkish airstrikes began targeting Kurdish militants in northern Kurdistan. Thirteen months later, the first […]
8 Feb, 2022
Investigations
Iraq

Who killed Ahmed and Youssef?

When two Iraqi holidaymakers were killed in the Kurdish region of the country, the finger of blame turned to Turkish strikes. But this investigation finds a roadside bomb was the more likely cause.
25 Feb, 2021
Research
Iraq, Türkiye

Renewed military campaign in northern Iraq against PKK sees deaths of 13 Turkish captives

A renewed campaign by Turkey in mid February against a Kurdish militant faction – which has seen Turkish troops pushing deeper than ever before into northern Iraq – also saw the deaths of thirteen Turkish civilian and military captives in a highly controversial attack, Airwars monitoring of the region shows. On February 10th, the Turkish […]
24 Dec, 2019
Update
Syria

More than 220 civilians likely killed in Turkish invasion of northern Syria

Eleven weeks on from the October 9th launch of a Turkish-led offensive against Kurds in northern Syria, known as ‘Operation Peace Spring’, fighting continues to rage with civilians still encountering significant violence. Since the beginning of the latest clashes, Airwars researchers have overall monitored between 244 and 312 reported civilian deaths resulting from air, artillery […]
18 Oct, 2019
Update
Syria, Türkiye

Civilians severely at risk from Turkish invasion of Northern Syria

Airwars monitors locally reported civilian harm from all Turkish air and artillery strikes in Iraq and Syria, as well as from Kurdish counterfire actions. Our database can be found here. More than 120 civilian deaths have been locally alleged in eight days of fighting in northern Syria to October 16th, following a Turkish-led offensive, ‘Operation […]