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

3 July 2017

Incident Code

TS087

Location

Jelber village, [or Cilbir] Shirawa district, Aleppo, Syria
Four civilians including an elderly woman were wounded in an alleged Turkish artillery attack on Jelber village, Afrin, according to local media. Aksalser cited Kurdish Activists and reported that "a woman from the village of Gelber in the countryside of Afrin was injured by the Turkish artillery" Azadiy Kurdistan said that "according to medical sources,…

Summary

Published
3 July 2017
Civilians reported injured
4
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

3 July 2017

Incident Code

TS086

Location

كفرعنطون, Kafar Anton village, Shahaba, Aleppo, Syria
Three civilians from the al-Yousef family (a mother and her two children) died, and another two civilains, and up to ten more non-combatants were wounded in an alleged Turkish artillery bombardment of Kafar Anton village, Shahaba, Afrin, according to local media. Welat FM, citing Afrin hospital, named the fatalities. All other sources blamed Turkey for the civilian…

Summary

Published
3 July 2017
Civilians reported killed
3–5
Civilians reported injured
4–10
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

22 June 2017

Incident Code

TS085

Location

al Rawiya village, Ras al Ain, Al Hassakah, Syria
Three civilians were wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling of al Rawiya village, Ras al Ain, according to sources on the ground. Al Hassaka Rasd reported that "two women and a girl were injured by a shell fired from the Turkish side on the village of #Rawiya in the region of Ras al-Ain in the north-western…

Summary

Published
22 June 2017
Civilians reported injured
3
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

25 April 2017

Incident Code

TS084

Location

المالكية, Several locations in al Malkiya, Al Hassakah, Syria
Two civilians werereportedly wounded in alleged Turkish strikes on Kurdish militias on Several locations in al Malkiya, according to a single source. Reports said that between 20 and Kurdish forces were killed with up to 18 wounded; however, there were also some vague references to civilian harm - though it appears that most credible claims are…

Summary

Published
25 April 2017
Civilians reported injured
2
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

20 February 2017

Incident Codes

TS083 CS514

Location

الباب, Al Bab city, Aleppo, Syria
Between 12 and 29 civilians including up to five children and five women died in airstrikes on Al Bab, according to local media - though sources were conflicted as to whether this was the work of Turkey or the US-led Coalition. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, "The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights…

Summary

Published
20 February 2017
Civilians reported killed
12–29
Civilians reported injured
7
Military Actor
Turkish Military, U.S.-led Coalition
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Incident Date

17 February 2017

Incident Code

TS082

Location

الباب, Al Bab city, Aleppo, Syria
Between four and nine civilians including one woman died in alleged Turkish strikes on Al Bab, according to local media. The victims were also named by Syrian Human Rights Committee, who blamed Turkey as well. In a MTV Lebanon video on February 17th - at 0’15, the voice over states that  "the Turkish army announced that…

Summary

Published
17 February 2017
Civilians reported killed
4–9
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Research and Investigations

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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 […]