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
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Incident Date Publication Date ↓

Incident Date

22 February 2018

Incident Code

TS220

Location

عفرين, Afrin city, Aleppo, Syria
One possible civilian died and up to 12 others were wounded in an alleged Turkish artillery attack on a convoy headed to Afrin from Cizire and Kobane, in eastern Syria. Many reports said that the convoy was delivery medicine to the region. Sana (Syrian state press), reported that “Turkish forces and his mercenaries pounded a…

Summary

Published
22 February 2018
Civilians reported killed
0–1
Civilians reported injured
12–13
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

21 February 2018

Incident Code

TS219

Location

عفرين, Afrin city, Aleppo, Syria
Rumaf reported that Turkey shelled the city centre of Afrin resulting in "many wounded." Alaraby reported that “Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish militia positions in the Hikkah and Ankla hills north of Afrin, while artillery continued to bombard the positions of militias in various parts of the area” – though the source made no mention of…

Summary

Published
21 February 2018
Civilians reported injured
3–5
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

20 February 2018

Incident Code

TS218

Location

دير جمال, Deir Jamal, Aleppo, Syria
According to several local sources, an unspecified number of civilians were wounded followed an alleged Turkish shelling on the bakery in Deir Jamal, Aleppo. SDF published four civilians, injured followed the shelling, including 3 children and man. Hawar News reported that heavy weapons targeted the town of Deir Jamil and the village of al-Zyara. Many civilians were…

Summary

Published
20 February 2018
Civilians reported injured
2–4
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

20 February 2018

Incident Code

TS216

Location

قرية سيويا, Siwiyah village, Mobata district, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
One civilian, reportedly with special needs, was killed in an alleged Turkish shelling of Siwiyah village, local media reported. According to Hawar news, a civilian with special needs from the village of Siwa, in the area of Mobata, was killed by the shelling of the village by the Turkish occupation army with artillery shells. Thirty-three-year-old…

Summary

Published
20 February 2018
Civilians reported killed
1
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

20 February 2018

Incident Code

TS217

Location

حي الأشرفيه, Al Ashrafiya neighbourhood, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
Six civilians including four children from the same family were wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling of Afrin city’s Al Ashrafiya neighbourhood, local media reported. According to SDF Press, the Turkish invasion army used heavy weapons to target civilian neighbourhoods in Afrin at night and focused on the bombing of Ashrafieh. Multiple sources have identified…

Summary

Published
20 February 2018
Civilians reported injured
6
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

19 February 2018

Incident Code

TS214

Location

مخيم روبار, Robar camp, Aleppo, Syria
According to Afrin Now, there were civilian casualties in Robar camp, Aleppo, followed an alleged Turkish bombardment of the camp. Bahzani reported: "The Robar refugee camp was not safe from the bombardment, according to Jean, who said: As a result of the exposure of the Robar camp for the displaced to bombardment, several civilians were…

Summary

Published
19 February 2018
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 […]