Research

More than 1,200 civilians were alleged killed by Russian actions in Syria during March - setting a grim new record

Significant civilian casualties continued from reported Russian strikes in Syria's eastern Ghouta; and from Turkish actions in Afrin

Turkish and Russian military actions in Syria led to significant civilian casualties - while claims against the Coalition remained at a low level

Civilian deaths from Coalition actions were up by more than 200% in 2017, as the war against ISIS pushed deep into cities

With ISIS mostly defeated, Airwars tracked a major fall in reported Coalition civilian casualties in November. Russia remains a problem.

Civilians paid a heavy price in the final days of battle for Raqqa - with thousands of Coalition munitions raining down on the city.

As strikes targeting ISIS in Iraq wind down, an air-backed race against Islamic State in Syria has put civilians in extreme danger.

Despite a significant fall in reported Coalition casualty events in Iraq, the fierce battle for control of Raqqa meant August was the third deadliest month for non-combatants.

Coalition munition use - and civilian deaths - each drop by one third at Raqqa, as SDF campaign to capture city slows

Almost five times more Coalition than Russian civilian casualty allegations were tracked by Airwars during June

Hundreds of civilians are now being killed monthly in Coalition airstrikes in both Iraq and Syria, credible reports indicate

Civilians are at increased risk of harm from US airstrikes under President Trump, months of data indicate

More civilians were likely killed by the Coalition in March than any other month of the war against ISIL - with a record number of bombs and missiles also released

Alleged Coalition civilian casualty events continue at record levels - again outpacing Russia's reported actions in Syria

January 2017 saw highest-ever reported civilian fatalities from Coalition airstrikes - outdoing Russia's actions in Syria

Recent improvements in civilian casualty reporting remain in place, despite transition from Obama to Trump

Likely non-combatant deaths from Coalition actions in Iraq and Syria rose by 70 percent compared to 2015. And thousands of civilians died in likely Russian airstrikes throughout 2016.

Record numbers of civilian fatalities were reported in November 2016 from both Coalition and Russian airstrikes

Significant rise in civilian casualties reported from Coalition, Russian and Turkish airstrikes in Iraq and Syria for October 2016.

Alleged Russian civilian casualty events were back to levels last seen in January, as Coalition geared for Mosul assault

Between January 1st and 31st 2016, a total of 177 reported civilian casualty incidents in Syria allegedly involving Russian aircraft have been tracked by our researchers. These allege between them an overall total of between 1,006 and 1,410 non-combatant deaths. Each event is individually recorded in our new 50,000-word public database for January 2016. Claims […]

August saw the second anniversary of the war against so-called Islamic State, with the terrorist group losing significant ground on multiple fronts. The Coalition campaign to liberate Manbij in Aleppo concluded with Daesh being driven out of the northern Syrian town. This led to a steep drop in Coalition airstrikes and reported civilian casualty events, […]

In July the Coalition campaign to liberate the northern Syrian town of Manbij in Aleppo built towards a fierce conclusion. Daesh continued to lose ground, but the effect on civilian casualties was significant. We tracked the greatest number of alleged deaths and incidents in any given month since the war began two years ago – […]

Daesh lost significant ground in June, with the liberation of Fallujah in Iraq and the ongoing battle for Manbij in Syria. However, this led to a steep rise in alleged civilian casualties involving the Coalition in both countries – while in Syria, we saw a quadrupling of the number of civilian casualty events reportedly involving […]

Airwars monthly reports on international airstrikes and alleged civilian casualties across both Iraq and Syria will resume for June . Here we present our summary findings for December 2015 to May 2016. Major Coalition military developments From December 1st 2015 to the end of May 2016, there were 4,087 reported Coalition airstrikes against Daesh: a […]

Major military developments November 2015 saw the greatest number of Coalition actions yet reported in the 16-month war, with 529 airstrikes in Iraq and 232 in Syria. Overall, a total of 5,638 air strikes had been carried out in Iraq, and 2,944 in Syria to the end of the month. The 13 allies had between […]

Major developments The US-led Coalition ended October 2015 having carried out 5,107 airstrikes in Iraq and 2,712 in Syria so far in its 14-month air war against Daesh. Some 28,578 bombs and missiles had been dropped by 13 allies. There were 22 reported incidents of concern in October 2015 – ten in Syria and 13 […]

Major developments US-led Coalition strikes allegedly killed as many as 276 civilians in up to 25 problem events in Iraq and Syria in September 2015 In twelve of these events, there appears enough credible evidence  – coupled with confirmation of allied airstrikes in the vicinity – to suggest that a minimum of 86 civilians were […]

Major Developments 6.548 Coalition airstrikes had been carried out to the end of August 2015 according to an Airwars count. Of these, 62% targeted Daesh in Iraq (4,080 strikes) with 2,468 airstrikes in Syria In total, Coalition aircraft had dropped 22,478 bombs and missiles on Iraq and Syria to August 31st Airwars recorded 12 new alleged civilian […]

ABOVE: General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, takes questions during a ‘town hall’ session in Baghdad July 18th (US Army/ Spc. Tristan D. Bolden) Additional reporting by Basile Simon, Kinda Haddad and Latif Habib Major Developments  In the two weeks since our last report, the Coalition has carried out 246 new airstrikes in […]