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

2 March 2018

Incident Code

TS239

Location

يلنقوز, Yalanqouz, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
One civilian male was injured in an alleged Turkish shelling of Yalanqouz, according to local media. ROK News reported: “In the context of Jindires and its villages, there is heavy artillery shelling in conjunction with air strikes on populated villages. At least one person was injured in the village of Yilanguz after air strikes.” Sources…

Summary

Published
2 March 2018
Civilians reported injured
1
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

2 March 2018

Incident Code

TS237

Location

مابيتة, Kahre, Mabeta, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
One to two civilians died and five more were wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling of Kahre, according to local media. Reports said that shelling occurred at 2.00 am, with a shell landing in the main square. According to Rok news, “the village of Khera, in the area of ​​Maabtli, came under artillery fire after…

Summary

Published
2 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
1–2
Civilians reported injured
5
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

1 March 2018

Incident Code

TS236

Location

ميدانكي, Mydanke, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
One woman died and others were wounded in an alleged Turkish artillery shelling of Mydanke in Afrin, local media reported. Sources said that the victim was hit by shrapnel. According to Qsdheza “others” were also wounded in the attack. IC Afrin reported that “many civilians were injured”.

Summary

Published
1 March 2018
Civilians reported killed
1
Civilians reported injured
2–10
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

1 March 2018

Incident Code

TS235

Location

حج خليل, Haj Khalil village, Rajo district, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
One named civilian died in an alleged Turkish airstrike on Haj Khalil village, according to local media. PUK Media reported: “‘The Turkish bombardment continues on Afrin against unarmed civilians,’ said Brusak Hasaka, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces in Afrin. He said that the bombardment resulted in the death of a citizen named Ibrahim…

Summary

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

28 February 2018

Incident Code

TS234

Location

ميركان, Mirkan village, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
Local media reported that between one and three civilians died and three more were wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling of Mirkan village, Syria. Multiple sources named Juan Mohammed Omar as killed. Sources added that three other civilians were wounded. Rumaf named one of these as Fahima Ahmed, 39, who sustained an injury “with shrapnel…

Summary

Published
28 February 2018
Civilians reported killed
1–3
Civilians reported injured
3
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

28 February 2018

Incident Code

TS233

Location

Batina town, Mobata district, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
Hawar news reported “A civilian was seriously wounded by the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries on Badina town related to Mobata district.” The man was named as “35-year-old Abdo Rasheed from the village of Qatma”. Other sources reported that Turkish warplanes carried out strikes on the Syrian area but made no mention of civilian…

Summary

Published
28 February 2018
Civilians reported injured
1
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 […]