⬤ Visual Investigation
March 4, 2025
A Long Return
A short film juxtaposing two videos along the same section of Salah al-Din Road, a main thoroughfare connecting north and south Gaza. Taken five years apart, in January 2020 and January 2025, the footage is synchronised to illustrate the full impact of the war in Gaza. Three civilian testimonies narrate the footage, detailing the emotional and physical toll of evacuating south, the arduous journey back to the north and the devastation of witnessing their homes in ruins.
January 15, 2025
Is a final Syrian civilian casualty count possible?
Determining the true scale of lives lost in Syria’s 14-year conflict is essential for accountability and transitional justice. By merging datasets, documenting on the ground and honoring each victim, Syrians and global experts can forge a path toward a new Syria — one built on truth and redress.
⬤ Open Source Investigation
⬤ Visual Investigation
October 9, 2024
The Killings They Tweeted
In the largest public analysis of Israeli military strike footage, this investigation reviewed hundreds of clips of strikes in Gaza released on social media by the Israeli military. By matching the videos with Airwars' civilian harm archive, it identified 17 strikes in which civilians were harmed that the Israeli military itself published footage of, in which more than 400 Palestinians were killed.
⬤ Open Source Investigation
July 24, 2024
One Name, Two Lists
Airwars researchers documented where and how more than 3,000 civilians were killed in the first weeks of the war in Gaza. Comparing these figures with Palestinian Ministry of Health death tolls found both to be reliable.
Recent Awards and Nominations
⬤ Visual Investigation
April 1, 2024
Three generations killed within days: why whole families are dying in Gaza
A visual investigation using Airwars data to highlight the hundreds of family units killed during the war in Gaza.
⬤ Visual Investigation
March 7, 2024
The bombing of Quala 4131
In 2007, Dutch-led NATO forces dropped seven bombs on an Afghan village. 15 years later, a landmark legal case found the strikes breached International Humanitarian Law. By visually recreating the day's events, this investigation highlights the importance of the landmark ruling for victims in conflict zones.
January 25, 2024
How we exposed secretive Danish role in Libyan civilian deaths
Inside the two year cross-border investigation to track down victims of NATO bombing campaign
Denmark admits role in Nato airstrikes on Libya that killed 14 civilians in 2011
Investigation between Airwars, Altinget and The Guardian tracked down the victims
⬤ Visual Investigation
December 7, 2023
Killed in a press vest – evidence of Israeli responsibility for attack on journalists in Lebanon
On October 13th, 2023, a group of seven journalists in Lebanon was struck by two missiles in 37 seconds, killing a Reuters journalist. A forensic visual analysis finds Israeli tank fire caused the death.
⬤ Open Source Investigation
November 21, 2023
No safe place – tracking civilian harm in southern Gaza
Airwars review finds at least 127 civilian harm allegations in 'safe zone' in first week after evacuation order.
⬤ Open Source Investigation
October 16, 2023
Did Israel bomb a civilian evacuation route in Gaza?
Airwars works with the Financial Times to forensically analyse an attack that killed at least a dozen Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza to safety.
⬤ Open Source Investigation
September 8, 2023
A year of the Shahed
How Russia turned to a cheap Iranian-made suicide drone to terrorise civilian populations and damage infrastructure across Ukraine
Investigations in partnership with
⬤ Open Source Investigation
July 6, 2023
The new Russian drone linked to Iran-backed factory
Airwars investigation with the Financial Times finds the facility at the centre of Russo-Iranian UAV partnership recruiting specialist engineers and Farsi speakers
June 20, 2023
Will German electronics end up in Russian drones?
Investigation by Airwars and Der Spiegel reveals German components exported to Russian drone manufacturer, even after the beginning of the war in Ukraine
April 4, 2023
Only official civilian victim of UK’s bombing campaign against IS appears not to exist
In eight years of bombing ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the UK says it has killed precisely one civilian. For two years, Airwars and The Guardian sought to find the victim.
While searching for a civilian killed, we uncovered a mystery.
⬤ Visual Investigation
March 21, 2023
The hidden casualties of Britain’s war
In eight years of bombing the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the United Kingdom has only accepted responsibility for the death of a single civilian. An Airwars and The Guardian investigation goes in search of the victims the British government doesn't want to acknowledge.
⬤ Visual Investigation
January 23, 2023
‘Waiting to happen’
A year ago, the Islamic State launched its largest attack in years - a daring jailbreak in which 500 people died. This immersive article reconstructs that night - and the American mistakes that made it more likely.
September 20, 2022
ISIS breakout at US-backed prison followed years of warnings
In January 2022, the Islamic State attacked a prison in northern Syria. In the first of two documentaries, Airwars and VICE News explain what happened.
⬤ Visual Investigation
June 13, 2022
A year on, Airwars investigation into Afrin hospital attack reveals crucial details
A horrifying attack on a hospital in the Syrian city of Afrin left 19 people dead – and the perpetrators are still unknown.
May 4, 2022
Counting the Dead in Ukraine
A longstanding mechanism for verifying casualties of the Ukraine conflict have been subsumed by the scale of carnage since Russia’s February invasion.
⬤ Visual Investigation
April 12, 2022
Anatomy of a Russian cluster munition strike
Airwars examined a single Russian cluster munition strike on a blood donation centre and hospital, which may have caused a 350 metre span of damage, in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
April 7, 2022
Counting the casualties in Ukraine – an interview with the UN Monitoring Mission
Why is the United Nations figure for the number of civilians killed in Ukraine so much lower than other estimates? Uladzimir Shcherbau, head of the UN civilian casualty monitoring team in the country, explains the challenges.
March 22, 2022
How Russia is using tactics from the Syrian playbook in Ukraine
Entire settlements reduced to rubble, attacks on civilian targets and the bombing of refugee exit routes were all part of Moscow’s brutal Syria campaign
March 15, 2022
Civilian status in the Ukraine conflict: a rough guide
Do citizens who take up arms to resist Russian invasion lose protected status? A layperson's guide to the lines between civilians, militants and soldier.
March 3, 2022
Airwars launches interactive Ukraine population density map
The map is designed for researchers seeking to understand how heavily populated Ukrainian neighbourhoods targeted by Russia are
February 21, 2022
New documents reveal fresh concerns about the Coalition’s system for investigating civilian harm
Newly released documents allow fresh evaluation of how seriously the US military took reports of civilian harm. The findings suggest not very.
⬤ Open Source Investigation
February 8, 2022
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.
December 18, 2021
Trump and Biden’s secret Afghanistan air campaigns revealed
Almost 800 previously secret US airstrikes in Afghanistan during 2020 and 2021 are revealed, as US military declassifies data.
December 10, 2021
Gaza and Syria: A Tale of Two Israeli Air Wars
New Airwars research finds that 10 times more civilians were killed in 11 days of Israel’s bombing of Gaza than in the entirety of its 8-year campaign in Syria
September 24, 2021
Five more Afghan strikes the US should apologise for
The US government has admitted the last drone strike of the Afghan war killed an entire family. Why stop there?
September 6, 2021
Tens of thousands of civilians likely killed by US in ‘Forever Wars’
A minimum of 22,000 civilians have been killed directly by US airstrikes since the start of the War on Terror in 2001, analysis finds.
August 10, 2021
Pentagon wrongly admitted killing 21 civilians in Iraq and Syria slain by allies
Allied nations almost certainly killed them. So why did the Defense Department tell Congress that the US was responsible?
⬤ Visual Investigation
July 28, 2021
Countdown to the airstrike: the moment Israeli forces hit al-Jalaa tower, Gaza
What would you do if you had minutes to leave your home forever? Residents of a Gaza apartment block recall the frantic moments before it turned to rubble
March 20, 2021
NATO Killed Civilians in Libya. It’s Time to Admit It.
The alliance bombing campaign had a devastating toll—but, a decade after the war, leaders have still not taken responsibility.
March 19, 2021
The secret talks that nearly saved Gaddafi
During Libya's 2011 civil war, Norway came close to brokering a brokering deal that would have seen Colonel Gaddafi step aside. So why did the United States and France oppose it?
March 18, 2021
Ten years after the Libyan revolution, victims wait for justice
NATO members still refuse to discuss potential civilian harm from their strikes a decade after intervening against Gaddafi.
November 18, 2020
The Credibles: How Airwars secured the most comprehensive locational data on civilian harm ever released by the US military
The release is a major breakthrough in transparency and could help Iraqis and Syrians finally secure apologies and even reparations for the death of family members
March 15, 2020
Europe’s shame: Claims by key allies of no civilian harm in war against ISIS exposed
Key European allies are denying dozens of civilian deaths from their own actions - even where the US-led Coalition finds such cases to be credible.