Research

All major publications from Airwars’ documentation, research, investigations and policy teams

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307 posts
15 Apr, 2025
Policy, Update

Airwars and PAX launch major new assessment tool for state efforts to protect civilians

Civilian Protection Monitor offers new framework to assess how states protect civilians from their military actions
14 Mar, 2025
Policy

Dutch MoD releases results of largest ever assessment of civilian harm allegations from the war against ISIS

Release marks unprecedented transparency in military casualty reviews
12 Dec, 2024
Policy, Report, Research
Israel, Palestinian territories

Patterns of harm analysis – Gaza, October 2023

Analysis finds first month of Gaza bombing campaign among the most intense and destructive in modern warfare
1 May, 2024
Policy, Research
Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Yemen

Analysis: U.S. declares its military actions worldwide killed no civilians in 2022

The US declares its military actions in 2022 resulted in no civilians killed or injured. Airwars finds otherwise
19 Feb, 2024
Visualisation
Syria

Reported White Helmets incidents in earthquake affected areas, Syria, 2023

Mapping all White Helmets first responder incidents in the months following the devastating February 2023 earthquake in Syria and Turkey
3 Jul, 2023
Policy
Syria

Airwars joins call for a robust and transparent investigation in response to recent US strike in Syria

Coalition of rights groups demands Pentagon accountability after strike on 'Al-Qaeda leader' kills Syrian farmer
1 Feb, 2023
Policy, Research
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen

US airstrikes fell to historic low in 2022, despite fresh operations

The overall number of declared US airstrikes across all monitored military theatres fell from 441 in 2021 to a minimum of 36 in 2022
29 Sep, 2022
Policy, Research
Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria

Pentagon annual report admits 12 deaths resulting from US actions in 2021

All deaths reported were in Afghanistan
13 Jun, 2022
Investigations
Syria

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.
10 May, 2022
Report

Annual report – 2021/22

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 […]
22 Apr, 2022
Policy
Iraq

After Hawija: Dutch Ministry of Defence maps route forward

The Dutch Ministry of Defence, Defensie, has finally outlined to Parliament the steps it expects to take in both the short and long term, to address civilian casualties from Dutch actions. Since late 2020, Airwars has been part of a consortium of civil society and academic organisations working with the Defensie to help improve the […]
12 Apr, 2022
Investigations
Ukraine

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
8 Apr, 2022
Policy

As key Geneva meet ends, states edge towards explosive weapons deal

States edged closer to a political declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas on April 8th, after three days of crunch talks in Geneva. More than 65 states descended on the Swiss city for key talks on the wording of a political declaration that advocates believe would save thousands of lives by […]
7 Apr, 2022
Investigations
Ukraine

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,
7 Apr, 2022
Policy
Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Palestinian territories, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen

Five takeaways from the first day of EWIPA negotiations

The shadow of the Ukraine conflict loomed large over the first day of the informal UN-backed consultations on a political declaration on restricting the use of wide area effect explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA), currently underway in Geneva. Delegates from more than 65 nations have gathered to fine tune the language of the political […]
5 Apr, 2022
Policy

At key Geneva meet, US and allies to be pushed on urban warfare restrictions

State delegates from around the world will meet this week in Geneva for UN-backed crunch talks, working towards a political declaration on restricting the use of wide area effect explosive weapons in urban conflict. If successful, the move could help save thousands of civilian lives. Representatives from more than 60 countries will meet from April […]
22 Feb, 2022
Policy
Syria

Why a Russian war in Ukraine would be particularly deadly for civilians

On February 21st Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would recognise the independence of two separatist regions inside Ukraine, with Russian troops reportedly moving there – steps widely seen as edging towards a full conflict. If Russia does, as has been predicted, invade part or all of Ukraine in the coming days, there are reasons […]
9 Feb, 2022
Policy

Airwars adds voice to 104 organisations calling on President Biden to overhaul US civilian harm approach

On February 8th, Airwars joined its voice with 104 other organisations – including human rights, humanitarian, protection of civilians, peacebuilding, civil liberties, social and racial justice, government accountability, veterans, and faith based NGOs – to call for President Joe Biden to act urgently to overhaul US civilian harm policies and practises. Recent New York Times […]
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.
28 Jan, 2022
Policy

US Defense Secretary announces major shakeup of Pentagon civilian harm policies

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has announced major proposals to overhaul how the US military monitors, assesses and documents when its actions kill civilians, a move warily welcomed by human rights and civilian harm mitigation NGOs. Building on years of documentation by groups like the Syrian Network for Human Rights and Airwars, since late 2021 […]
22 Dec, 2021
Investigations, Research
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen

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

Is President Biden really going to end the America's decades-long campaign?
18 Dec, 2021
Investigations
Afghanistan

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.
9 Dec, 2021
Policy, Report
Israel, Palestinian territories, Syria

Israeli strikes on Gaza in May killed up to ten times as many civilians as lengthy Syria campaign, Airwars finds

'Why did they bomb us?' report finds major difference in military tactics, and outcomes for civilians
4 Nov, 2021
Policy
Iraq

Survivors of Hawijah call for justice, two years after Dutch finally admitted role in 2015 catastrophe

Airwars’ Netherlands-based advocacy partner, PAX for Peace, is currently undertaking research in the Iraqi city of Hawijah, where a 2015 US-led Coalition strike against ISIS led to the deaths of at least 70 civilians and the injuring of hundreds more. On the night of June 2nd-3rd 2015, Dutch F-16s bombed an ISIS Vehicle-Borne Improvised Devices […]
12 Oct, 2021
Policy
Iraq, Syria

New UK Foreign Secretary must learn lessons of past and be accountable for UK military actions abroad

Last week marked 20 years since the US-led ‘War on Terror’ began. The conflict has been defined by a series of major military actions in which the UK has supported the US and allies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. The recent chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan saw the reshuffle of Dominic Raab from the Foreign, Commonwealth […]
30 Sep, 2021
Research
Syria

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 […]
2 Jun, 2021
Research
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen

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 […]
8 Apr, 2021
Policy
Yemen

Mwatana blasts CENTCOM silence on civilians killed in Yemen

The Yemeni human rights group Mwatana has accused US Central Command of being “very disrespectful to victims”, after it emerged that CENTCOM has still not publicly responded to a major investigation into civilians killed by US airstrikes and ground raids. Given five months’ advance notice of the findings of the investigation, which comprehensively detailed the […]
18 Mar, 2021
Investigations
Libya

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.
2 Mar, 2021
Investigations, Policy
Yemen

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 […]