Research

Research

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138 Research Posts

Declared strikes by US President in Iraq and Syria

The United States and its 13 kinetic allies – part of an international alliance usually known as the Coalition – began an extensive campaign against so-called Islamic State in August 2014, after the terror group had occupied large parts of of Iraq and Syria. By the end of President Trump’s term in office in 2021,

Published
September 2022
Country
Iraq Syria
Belligerents
US-led Coalition
Output Type
Bar Chart Visualisation

Reported civilian deaths from Russian Military strikes in Syria

Due to large variations in the quality of reporting, Airwars provisionally grades allegations of civilian harm using a standardised methodology across all belligerents and conflicts. The five categories are explained in full on our Methodology page. Individual events are recorded in the Civilian Casualties pages.

Published
September 2022
Country
Syria
Belligerents
Russian Military
Output Type
Bar Chart Visualisation
Languages
English العربية

Civilian Casualties in Gaza

This interactive map illustrates the devastating civilian toll of the May 2021 war in Gaza. Our research found at least 151 and as many as 192 civilians in Gaza were likely killed by Israeli military actions. A further 15 to 20 civilians were killed as a result of Palestinian militant rockets falling short, whose deaths

Published
September 2022
Country
the Gaza Strip
Belligerents
Israeli Military
Output Type
Choropleth Map Visualisation
Languages
English العربية עברית

Israeli Military in the Gaza Strip May 2021 Casualty Map

This resource presents Airwars’ ongoing monitoring of civilian harm allegations resulting from reported Israeli strikes in Syria; as well as from the May 2021 conflict in Gaza, and Palestinian rocket fire into Israel during the same period.

Published
September 2022
Country
the Gaza Strip
Belligerents
Israeli Military
Output Type
Map Visualisation
Languages
English العربية עברית

Israeli Military in Syria Casualty Map

This resource presents Airwars’ ongoing monitoring of civilian harm allegations resulting from reported Israeli strikes in Syria; as well as from the May 2021 conflict in Gaza, and Palestinian rocket fire into Israel during the same period.

Published
September 2022
Country
Syria
Belligerents
Israeli Military
Output Type
Map Visualisation
Languages
English العربية עברית

US Forces in Yemen Fatalities and Strikes Map

The United States conducted its first targeted assassination by drone outside the hot battlefield in November 2002 in Marib province, killing five reported members of Al Qaeda. However US counterterrorism operations did not begin in earnest until 2009, prompted by the founding of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The Obama Administration’s controversial campaign

Published
September 2022
Country
Yemen
Belligerents
US Forces
Output Type
Map Visualisation

US Forces in Somalia Fatalities and Strikes Map

The first known US airstrikes in Somalia as part of the so-called War on Terror took place in 2007 under President George W. Bush. However it was not until the Obama administration took office in 2009 that a significant US drone and airstrike campaign began.

Published
September 2022
Country
Somalia
Belligerents
US Forces
Output Type
Heatmap Map Visualisation

All Belligerents in Libya 2012 – Present Casualty and Strikes Map

A 2011 popular uprising in Libya (supported militarily by NATO) against dictator Muammar Gaddafi led to significant upheavals in the North African country – in what former US President Barack Obama would later describe as his greatest foreign policy failure. As Libya collapsed into rival governments, factional militias and civil war, radical Islamist groups including

Published
September 2022
Country
Libya
Output Type
Heatmap Map Visualisation
Languages
English العربية

All Belligerents in Libya 2011 Casualty and Strikes Map

Spurred on by protests across the Arab world, in February 2011 Libyans took to the streets against long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Rebels quickly seized key cities but Gaddafi forces cracked down, killing hundreds, and were closing in on Benghazi – the last bastion of the uprising. On March 17th the UN Security Council voted to

Published
September 2022
Country
Libya
Output Type
Map Visualisation
Languages
English العربية

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

Published
September 2022
Country
Iraq Syria
Belligerents
Turkish Military
Output Type
Heatmap Map Visualisation
Languages
English العربية

Russian Military in Syria Casualty Map

Russia began its military engagement in Syria in support of the Assad government on September 30th 2015, in a campaign dominated by intense airstrikes, and later also by artillery actions. While Moscow initially claimed to be targeting so-called Islamic State, it soon became clear that rebel-held areas of Syria were its main focus. The campaign

Published
September 2022
Country
Syria
Belligerents
Russian Military
Output Type
Heatmap Map Visualisation
Languages
English العربية

US-led Coalition in Iraq and Syria Casualty Map

Following the capture of much of northern Iraq and eastern Syria by so-called Islamic State – and atrocities committed by the terror group against local populations – an international Coalition led by the United States began military actions against ISIS in August 2014, in partnership with local forces. An intense air and ground campaign over

Published
August 2022
Country
Iraq Syria
Belligerents
US-led Coalition
Output Type
Heatmap Map Visualisation
Languages
English العربية

Annual Report for 2021

Civilian harm trends continued sharply downwards across all conflicts monitored by Airwars during 2021 – particularly after the Biden administration took office in January. However both Russian and Turkish campaigns in Syria – and Turkish actions in northern Iraq – continued at an occasionally aggressive rate. Ongoing concerns at US military accountability peaked with the

Published
May 2022
Output Type
Report

The US has quietly restarted admitting killing civilians in Iraq and Syria

The US-led International Coalition has quietly admitted to killing 18 more civilians in Iraq and Syria and injuring a further 11, its first such public concession in eight months. On March 10th, Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) – the US-led coalition against the so-called Islamic State – quietly released on its website its first public civilian

Published
March 2022
Country
Iraq Syria
Belligerents
US Forces US-led Coalition
Output Type
Analysis

Patterns of civilian harm from Russia’s military actions in Syria (2015-2022)

Since the beginning of Russia’s military intervention in Syria in 2015, Airwars has tracked, documented and preserved every local allegation of civilian harm resulting from Russian actions – over 4,000 individual incidents from 61,915 unique sources. We have collected 11,181 names of civilians reported killed, and identified 1,383 family members killed in the same incidents.

Published
March 2022
Country
Syria
Belligerents
Russian Military
Output Type
Analysis

How do the ‘forever wars’ look under President Biden?

There has been much speculation in recent weeks about what President Biden’s first year in office shows us about his foreign policy – and in particular whether he is ending 20 years of America’s so-called ‘forever wars’. As 2021 nears its end, Airwars reached out to US combatant commands to request strike data for conflicts.

Published
December 2021
Country
Afghanistan Iraq Libya Pakistan Somalia Syria Yemen
Belligerents
US Forces US-led Coalition
Output Type
Analysis

“Why did they bomb us?” Urban civilian harm in Gaza, Syria and Israel from explosive weapons use

‘Why did they bomb us?’ Urban civilian harm in Gaza, Syria and Israel from explosive weapons use’ – which is published in Arabic, Hebrew and English – provides the first comparative analysis of two very different Israeli military campaigns. Applying the same open source monitoring methodology Airwars uses to track civilian harm caused by the

Published
December 2021
Output Type
Report

After six years of Russian airstrikes in Syria, still no accountability for civilian deaths

To mark the sixth anniversary of Russia’s military intervention in Syria, Airwars is highlighting just five of the countless civilian harm events that characterise Russian involvement in the conflict. Overall since 2015, we have identified 4,615 incidents where Russia is alleged to have caused civilian deaths or injuries. This September alone, we estimate that ten

Published
September 2021
Country
Syria
Belligerents
Russian Military
Output Type
Analysis

International war against ISIS enters its eighth year

This article was originally published by The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft on August 8th 2021. For the little media coverage it receives these days, you might be forgiven for believing the US-led coalition’s war in Syria and Iraq to be over. Osama Al-Hamid’s family knows better. Last month, the young boy died during reported

Published
August 2021
Country
Iraq Syria
Belligerents
US-led Coalition
Output Type
Analysis

Pentagon annual report declares 85 civilian deaths in recent US actions

The Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on civilian deaths and injuries resulting from US military actions around the world has declared more than 100 recent casualties. Researchers and human rights groups, including Airwars, Amnesty International and UN monitors in Afghanistan, place the actual toll significantly higher. For 2020 alone, the Department of Defence said that

Published
June 2021
Country
Afghanistan Iraq Libya Pakistan Somalia Syria Yemen
Belligerents
US Forces US-led Coalition
Output Type
Analysis

US military blames “administrative mistake” after forgetting its troops killed Yemeni civilians

The US military has blamed an “administrative mistake” after conceding it forgot its own admission of the killing of up to 12 civilians during a raid on a Yemeni village in early 2017. Details of the admission feature in the Airwars annual report for 2020 which published March 2nd. The US military led a raid

Published
March 2021
Country
Yemen
Belligerents
US Forces
Output Type
Analysis

Annual report for 2020

Tracking by Airwars across multiple conflicts during 2020 showed that the number of locally reported civilian deaths from the use of explosive weapons was down by two thirds compared to the previous year. Of these fatalities, around half were in the first two months of 2020. This suggested a possible ‘Covid effect’ – a significant

Published
March 2021
Output Type
Report

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

Published
February 2021
Country
Iraq Turkey
Belligerents
Turkish Military
Output Type
Analysis

Airwars monthly assessment – November 2020

Major Conflict Monitoring Civilian harm from foreign military action in all tracked conflicts have remained low, with little change observed in November compared to previous months. In Syria, Russian actions have decreased from October. It has also been a quieter month for US-led actions in Syria, although reports of US-led strikes on Iranian forces in

Published
December 2020
Output Type
Analysis

Airwars Bi-monthly assessment – September & October 2020

Major Conflict Monitoring The months of September and October 2020 saw a flurry of activity from Airwars. Starting with the launch of new interactive mapping of reported civilian harm during the recent siege of Tripoli; through to our major joint report with PAX examining the civilian impact of the use of explosive weapons in cities;

Published
December 2020
Output Type
Analysis

Eroding Transparency: Trump in Yemen

Accompanying the launch of Airwars’ new public database tracking US counterterrorism actions in Yemen, Eroding Transparency provides a comprehensive review of more than 230 alleged and confirmed US actions and associated civilian harm under President Donald Trump. Drawing on thousands of local sources – the majority in Arabic – the report reveals that at least

Published
October 2020
Output Type
Report

Seeing through the rubble: The civilian impact of the use of explosive weapons in the fight against ISIS

A joint report ‘Seeing through the rubble: The civilian impact of the use of explosive weapons in the fight against ISIS‘ by Airwars and PAX examines the dire and long-lasting effects of explosive weapons on civilian populations in towns and cities, in recent international military campaigns in Mosul, Raqqa and Hawijah. Explosive weapons kill and

Published
October 2020
Output Type
Report

Seeing through the rubble: Airwars and PAX launch joint report

Airwars and PAX have published a new joint report, Seeing Through The Rubble, examining the dire and long-lasting effects of explosive weapons on civilian populations in urban areas in recent international military campaigns in Mosul, Raqqa and Hawijah. The report calls upon States to develop and support an international political declaration to better protect civilians against

Published
October 2020
Country
Iraq Syria
Belligerents
US-led Coalition
Output Type
Analysis

Airwars monthly assessment – August 2020

Major Conflict Monitoring While civilian harm from foreign actions in the conflicts monitored by Airwars mostly decreased during August, Ankara’s continuing air and ground campaign against Kurdish militants led to the worst reported civilian harm tally in northern Iraq from Turkish action since 2015. Civilian harm incidents involving Russia in Syria (already at a low

Published
September 2020
Output Type
Analysis

The siege of Tripoli: visualising a year of violence

Two months after the brutal siege of Libya’s capital ended, new interactive Airwars mapping shows the impact of 14 months of fighting between two rival governments on the city’s beleaguered civilians. Airwars has visualised every allegation of civilian harm from air and artillery strikes during the period of war in and around Tripoli between April

Published
September 2020
Country
Libya
Belligerents
GNA/Turkish Military Government of National Accord Libyan National Army LNA/UAE Military/Egyptian Military
Output Type
Analysis