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

10 January 2017

Incident Code

TS045

Location

الباب, Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Seven or eight civilians died including one child and as many as 30 more were injured in alleged Turkish air and artillery strikes on Al Bab, Syria, according to sources on the ground. Ameer Alabaad put the death toll at six civilians with 12 more wounded - "mostly children and women" - in a "Turkish…

Summary

Published
10 January 2017
Civilians reported killed
7–8
Civilians reported injured
10–30
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

9 January 2017

Incident Code

TS044

Location

بزاعة, Baza’a town, Aleppo, Syria
Between two and three civilians including a child and a woman died and 12 others were wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling of Baza’a town in the eastern Aleppo countryside, Syria, sources on the ground reported. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, "two civilians (a child and a woman) died in a Der’ Al…

Summary

Published
9 January 2017
Civilians reported killed
2–3
Civilians reported injured
12
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

7 January 2017

Incident Code

TS043

Location

مدينة الباب, Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Between three and six civilians including one child died and several others were wounded in alleged Turkish air or artillery strikes on Al Bab, Syria, local media reported. Al Raed La Ykazeb Ahlahu cited the IS media agency Al A’amaq, reporting that there had been "18 Turkish raids on Al Bab and more than 100 artillery…

Summary

Published
7 January 2017
Civilians reported killed
3–6
Civilians reported injured
2
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

6 January 2017

Incident Code

TS042

Location

العمادية, Al A’mya, Aleppo, Syria
Between three and eight civilians including two children died in artillery and/or air strikes on the Syrian village of Al A’mya in the eastern Aleppo countryside, according to local media - though sources were conflicted as to whether this was the work of Turkey or the Syrian regime. Halhos1 was among sources blaming Turkey. It…

Summary

Published
7 January 2017
Civilians reported killed
3–8
Civilians reported injured
2
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

6 January 2017

Incident Code

TS041

Location

Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Between six and ten civilians died and up to 30 more were wounded in alleged Turkish air and artillery strikes on Al Bab, Syria, local media reported. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least six civilians died and others were wounded - including children - in Turkish strikes on Al Bab -…

Summary

Published
6 January 2017
Civilians reported killed
6–10
Civilians reported injured
13–30
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

5 January 2017

Incident Code

TS040

Location

الباب, Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Two civilians were reportedly killed in an alleged Turkish artillery shelling on Al Bab. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights wrote: "And two citizens, including a child, were killed in shelling by Turkish forces on areas in Al Bab city in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo." The ISIS propaganda outlet Al Raed La Ykazeb Ahlahu…

Summary

Published
5 January 2017
Civilians reported killed
2
Civilians reported injured
11–15
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 […]