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

28 December 2016

Incident Code

TS033

Location

الباب, Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Al Bab Al Hadath reported that Qadro Al-Jadeed and his family were killed in a Turkish airstrike "a few days ago" on December 31st. There is currently no more information available.

Summary

Published
28 December 2016
Civilians reported killed
2–4
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

27 December 2016

Incident Code

TS032

Location

الباب, Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Between one and five civilians were reportedly killed in alleged Turkish airstrikes on Al Bab, Syria. Al Bab Al Hadath said that "one person was killed due to Turkish bombardment near the big mosque in Al-Bab city." According to LCCSY, eight people were killed in the Aleppo area and "the majority" of them in Al…

Summary

Published
27 December 2016
Civilians reported killed
1–5
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

25 December 2016

Incident Code

TS031

Location

الباب, Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Between two and three civilians were reportedly killed in alleged Turkish airstrikes on Al Bab, Syria. Al-Bab Al-Hadath wrote on Facebook: "A woman died last night due to Turkish warplanes shelling in Al-Bab." Halab News, however, named two dead calling them both adult males. Aleppo AMC only reported artillery shelling but no victims. The Syrian…

Summary

Published
25 December 2016
Civilians reported killed
2–3
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

23 December 2016

Incident Codes

CS420 TS030

Location

الباب, Al-Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Between 20 and 25 civilians died in a Turkish (or less likely Coalition) raid on al Bab. According to ISIS’s media wing, “Turkish planes committed a new massacre in al Bab for the second day running – initial toll of 20 dead.” Umayya reported the death toll as being possibly even higher than 25: "The…

Summary

Published
23 December 2016
Civilians reported killed
20–25
Civilians reported injured
12–24
Military Actor
Turkish Military, U.S.-led Coalition
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Incident Date

22 December 2016

Incident Code

TS029

Location

الباب, Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Between 23 and 94 civilians were killed in an alleged Turkish airstrike on Al Bab, Syria, according to local media. Al Jazeera reported the lowest death toll at 20 and refered to the ISIS media agency Al A'amaq as the source. Later Al A'amaq itself said the toll rose to 50. The Syrian Network for…

Summary

Published
22 December 2016
Civilians reported killed
23–94
Civilians reported injured
45
Military Actor
Turkish Military
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Incident Date

21 December 2016

Incident Code

TS028

Location

الباب, Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria
Between seven and 15 civilians, most of them apparently from one family, were reported killed in a Turkish bombardment of Al Bab, Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that "the city is witnessing massive bombardment by the Turkish forces leading to the death of seven, the majority of them from one family, the…

Summary

Published
21 December 2016
Civilians reported killed
7–15
Civilians reported injured
2–5
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 […]