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

12 February 2018

Incident Code

TS187

Location

معبطلي, Ma'abatli village, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
Six civilians were wounded in an alleged “Turkish bombardment of an olive oil factory”, according to Afrin Now. The victims were named by Afrin Now, Afrin Media Centre and Basnews. According to PYD news, “the Turkish army bombed a factory for the olive industry in Moubata, ‘Maabtli’, which led to the injury of five workers…

Summary

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

12 February 2018

Incident Code

TS188

Location

بلبلة, Bulbul, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
In a private report to Airwars, the Kurdish Red Crescent named the following one civilian as wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling of Bulbul: ‘Bashar Youssef, 27, various shrapnel wounds and a head injury’.

Summary

Published
12 February 2018
Civilians reported injured
1
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

12 February 2018

Incident Code

TS189

Location

هيكجة, Heikja, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
Afrin Now reported the injury of one civilian, “Hussein Suleiman, 37 years old, from the village of Heikja, Shih district” in an alleged Turkish shelling near his home in Heikja village. There are no other details at this time.

Summary

Published
12 February 2018
Civilians reported injured
1
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

12 February 2018

Incident Code

TS190

Location

دررويش, Darwish village, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
Afrin Now reported “the martyrdom of the civilian Haidar Kiuzu from the village of Darwish yesterday, as a result of Turkish shelling.” PYD reported Turkish shelling of the village but made no mention of civilian casualties. There are no other details at this time.

Summary

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

11 February 2018

Incident Code

TS182

Location

قسطل خضرية, Qastal Khadriya, Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria
Local media reported the death of the civilian Mohammed Rasho, born in 1956, in an alleged Turkish airstrike on the village of Qustal Khadriya. However, Nuce24 (which placed Mr Rasho’s death on February 10th at Berkashi) seemed to suggest that the victim was not a civilian. It reported that “the General Command of the People’s…

Summary

Published
11 February 2018
Civilians reported killed
0–1
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

11 February 2018

Incident Code

TS183

Location

حسية موباتا, Hassiya, Mobata district, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria
Local sources reported that a two-year-old boy was injured when an alleged Turkish artillery shell fell on his house in the village of Husay (Mirkan), in the area of Mubata, Syria. According to Nuce24, “a number of artillery shells landed on the village of Husay (Mirkan) in the area of Mubata, which resulted in the…

Summary

Published
11 February 2018
Civilians reported injured
1–2
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 […]