Research

Major Conflict Monitoring July 2020 saw a continuation of a trend observed the month before, with foreign action in Syria slowly increasing, particularly by Russia. Meanwhile, the US-led Coalition continued its operations against both ISIS and Iranian-backed groups in Syria, though at a seemingly lower intensity. In Iraq, ISIS’s insurgency had slightly increased in tempo, […]

Major Conflict Monitoring June 2020 saw a slight resurgence in foreign action in Syria, with sporadic Russian strikes being reported in Idlib; and with the US-led Coalition continuing its operations against Iranian-backed groups in Syria. In Iraq, ISIS’s insurgency has decreased significantly as Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have increased the tempo of their own Counter-Terrorism […]

The ceasefire in Idlib between Russia and Turkey has continued to hold for the most part. But Libya's conflict continues to rage, with the Turkish-backed GNA gaining the upper hand in recent advances.

Conflict in Libya ramps up as sense of calm presides over Syria and Iraq.

Fighting grinds to a halt in Idlib following ceasefire, but civilian harm incidents reported in other parts of Syria, Libya and Somalia.

February 2020 saw up to 226 civilians killed in Syria as a result of Russian airstrikes and 404 more injured - as the regime continued to push through Idlib and Aleppo.

Tripoli, the capital of Libya, has entered its second year of being under siege, part of the most significant upsurge in violence in the country’s intermittent civil war since 2012. Hundreds of civilians have so far died – with little effort either domestically or internationally to bring the fighting to an end. While most of […]

January 2020 saw a 15% rise in Russia civilian harm events as the regime and its ally pounded rebel-held territory in Idlib and Aleppo.

November 2019 saw a quadrupling in civilian harm claims against Russia and the regime in Syria

More than 200 civilians were locally alleged killed by Turkish and Kurdish military actions in Syria during October. Civilian deaths were also significantly up in Libya.

During September 2019 reported civilian harm from military actions was down in both Syria and Libya.

More than 200 civilians were locally alleged killed by Russia in Syria during August - with concerns too about Coalition counter terror raids.

As many as 432 civilians were claimed killed by Russian forces in Syria during July - as the bombardment of Idlib and Hama governorates intensified.

The first six months of 2019 saw at least 800 civilians locally alleged killed by Russian and US-led Coalition forces in Syria - while Libya's civil war continued to escalate.

A major new report from Airwars examining US media coverage of civilian harm in the war against ISIS - with recommendations to editors for improvements.

Allegations of civilian harm against Moscow were up 300% during May - as Idlib came under fierce attack from the Assad government and its Russian allies.

Following the capture of Al Baghouz and the defeat of ISIS as a territorial entity on March 23rd, US-led Coalition air and artillery strikes in Syria effectively stopped, while actions in Iraq have also heavily declined in recent months. Consequently, Airwars has not tracked a civilian casualty event in Syria assessed as likely caused by […]

Conflict monitoring After 56 months of war, March finally saw the defeat of ISIS as a territorial entity when the town of Al Baghouz in Deir Ezzor governorate fell to Coalition-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on March 23rd. However, this final intense month of fighting came at what appeared to be significant cost to civilians on […]

Conflict monitoring During February, civilian harm claims against the US-led Coalition in Syria continued to be a major problem. The month saw several alarming large-scale casualty incidents in the town of Baghouz – the last territorial holdout in Syria for so-called Islamic State (ISIS) – meaning that the likely death toll from Coalition actions in […]

Conflict monitoring In January 2019, the noose further tightened around ISIS in the last remaining scraps of territory it held in Syria’s Deir Ezzor governorate. By February 5th, there were an it was claimewd as few as 1,000 fighters in ISIS’s stronghold within a 20-sqaure-mile area near the southern Euphrates Rivers and the Iraqi border, […]

Despite significant falls in both strike numbers and reported casualties, civilians still remained at risk in the three conflict-affected nations presently monitored by Airwars. In total, as many as 5,947 non combatants were locally alleged killed by international military actions across Syria, Iraq and Libya during 2018. In Libya reported airstrikes were down by a […]

Conflict monitoring In November, Airwars tracked the highest reported civilian death toll from alleged Coalition actions since the fall of Raqqa in October 2017. As the terrorist group clung on to a handful of villages in Deir Ezzor and the Hajin campaign rolled into its third month, Coalition actions rose by 32% on October with […]

Conflict monitoring Airwars tracked no locally reported claims of civilian harm in Syria from Russian actions during October – the first such month since Moscow first intervened three years previously. US-led Coalition strikes against ISIS continued however, with a significant and troubling rise in reported civilian harm in eastern Syria. October saw a near tripling […]

Conflict monitoring In September 2018, civilian harm remained at low levels from both international and domestic belligerents in the three conflict areas which Airwars presently monitors. Eight civilian harm events were attributed the US-led Coalition in Syria – the same number as in the previous month. While events reportedly involving Russia in Syria rose steeply, […]

Reported civilian harm in August from both Russian and Coalition actions were at their lowest levels for years, Airwars monitoring shows.

As part of its Inquiry into British military actions at Mosul and Raqqa, the UK Parliament’s Defence Select Committee issued a request for submissions from interested parties. Along with several other NGOs, Airwars submitted a detailed report looking into UK actions in the war against so-called Islamic State, and the broader issue of civilian harm. […]

Overall, more than 3,700 civilians have been alleged killed in international military actions in Syria so far this year.

Reported civilian deaths from Russian actions were up by a third in Syria during the first six months of 2018. While claims against the Coalition were sharply down, several hundred civilians were still likely killed by the US-led alliance.

Coalition-attributed civilian casualties in Syria were up during May, while those blamed on Russia were sharply down.

Civilian fatalities from international military actions in both Iraq and Syria were at record low levels during April.