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 August 2023

Incident Code

TS620

Location

قرية عبوش, Aboush village, Al Hassakah, Syria
On the afternoon of Thursday August 3rd 2023, Aboush village in the countryside of Tal Tamr Hasaka, in Northeastern Syria was reportedly shelled with artillery by Turkish forces and their loyal factions, causing injuries of varying degrees to 5 civilians. ANHA Hawar News Agency reported that the Turkish forces struck civilians of Aboush village with 5…

Summary

Published
3 August 2023
Strike Type
Artillery
Civilians reported injured
5
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

31 July 2023

Incident Code

TS619

Location

قرية كالوتة, Kalota village, Aleppo, Syria
On July 31st, 2023 Turkish forces allegedly shelled several villages in the Sherawa district, injuring a child and an elderly woman in Kalota village. Both were brought to a nearby medical checkpoint. According to the news outlet NPN, at the time of reporting, their condition was unstable. Local sources Hawar News, ANF, and multiple other…

Summary

Published
31 July 2023
Strike Type
Artillery
Civilians reported injured
2
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

30 July 2023

Incident Code

TS618

Location

قرية تل اللبن, Tal Al-Laban village, Al Hassakah, Syria
Three civilians were injured and civilian property was damaged by heavy artillery shelling in Tal Al-Laban Village in the Tal Tamr countryside of Northwestern Syria on July 30, 2023. The attack is alleged to have been carried out by Turkish military personnel. The three civilians injured were named by Hawar News as Omar Sadiq Sheikh…

Summary

Published
30 July 2023
Strike Type
Artillery
Civilians reported injured
3
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

29 July 2023

Incident Code

TS617

Location

ثل رفعت, Tal Rifaat, Aleppo, Syria
On Saturday July 29th 2023, in the early hours of the morning, the Tal Rifaat district in al-Shahba area in Syria was reportedly shelled by the Turkish forces, resulting in the injury of at least one civilian. Local news outlet ANF News reported the shelling and alleged it resulted in one civilian injury: citizen “Azad…

Summary

Published
29 July 2023
Strike Type
Artillery
Infrastructure
IDP or Refugee Camp
Civilians reported injured
1–2
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

28 July 2023

Incident Code

TS616

Location

الذوق الكبير, Al-Zouq Al-Kabeer, Aleppo, Syria
In the evening of July 28 2023, a boy was injured by shelling allegedly carried out by the Turkish-backed National Army factions in Al-Zouq Al-Kabeer village / Kondi Mazen Sherawa Afrin, Aleppo Governorate. According to a Syrian correspondent with Hawar News, the child’s name is Hamad (Muhammad) Khalil, 14 years old. He was brought to…

Summary

Published
28 July 2023
Strike Type
Artillery
Civilians reported injured
1
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Military Actor
Turkish Military
View Incident →

Incident Date

27 July 2023

Incident Code

TS615

Location

تل معروف, Tal Maarouf, Al Hassakah, Syria
On Thursday, the 27th of July, an alleged Turkish military drone strike on two vehicles near Tal Maarouf in Syria’s northeast region resulted in the death of two civilians. At least four members of  the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Internal Security Forces (Asayish) were also killed in the strike, while up to another four…

Summary

Published
27 July 2023
Strike Type
Airstrike (Drone Strike)
Civilians reported killed
2
Military actors reported killed
4
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
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 […]