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

14 March 2018

Incident Code

TS272

Location

ترينيدة, Trinide village, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
According to multiple sources, up to four civilians including a child were killed, and at least five children from one family were wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling of Trinide village, Syria. Only one single source reported the death of four civilians for this incident. According to Xeber, artillery shelled the village of Trinide and resulted…

Summary

Published
14 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
0–4
Civilians reported injured
5
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

14 March 2018

Incident Code

TS273

Location

نبل, Nubl town, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
According to local media, three civilians were killed followed an alleged Turkish airstrike on Nubl town. According to Enabbaladi, the Syrian regime’s media published a statement saying that Turkish planes’ targeted allied positions in Nabal and Zahra, which resulted in a number of civilian martyrs. An image published shows the casualties to be young men.…

Summary

Published
14 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
3
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

14 March 2018

Incident Code

TS274

Location

عفرين, Afrin city centre, Aleppo, Syria
Between 5 and 11 civilians including up to four children died and up to 25 more were wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling (airstrikes and artillery) of Afrin city centre, according to local media in Syria. Massoud Mohammad, a self-described journalist from Qamishli for Rojava, produced numerous reports on the event on Twitter. He put…

Summary

Published
14 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
5–12
Civilians reported injured
12–44
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

13 March 2018

Incident Code

TS269

Location

اشرفية, Ashrafieh neighbourhood, Afrin city, Aleppo, Syria
One child was critically wounded in an alleged Turkish airstrike on Ashrafieh neighbourhood, Afrin city. According to IC Afrin Resistance, the Turkish occupation army planes bombed al-Ashrafieh neighbourhood in the centre of Afrin city at noon today [March 13th], seriously wounding the back of a 14-year-old boy. The child was taken to a hospital in…

Summary

Published
13 March 2018
Civilians reported injured
1
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

13 March 2018

Incident Code

TS270

Location

جنديرس, Road between Jindires and Afrin city, Aleppo, Syria
Local media reported the death of two civilians in an alleged Turkish airstrike on the road between Jindires and Afrin city, Syria. The SDF War Media reported: The Martyrdom of two Civilians by Turkish raids on the Jandarsa road. the victims died while trying to escape with their lives from the bombing of Turkey. They…

Summary

Published
13 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
2
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

13 March 2018

Incident Code

TS271

Location

بعدينة, Ba'adina village, Mabeta district, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
At least nine civilians died, and more were wounded in an alleged Turkish airstrike on Ba’adina village, Syria, local media reported. Sources said that the bus or motorcade which the victims were travelling in was struck. According to Defend Afrin, "Turkish jets targeted a group of villagers who were returning to their village Bedina of…

Summary

Published
13 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
9
Civilians reported injured
2
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 […]