Research

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

Suggested Searches
Policy
All maps
Research on Syria
Research on U.S. forces
Research on the Gaza Strip
Collections
175 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
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
18 Aug, 2021
Policy
Iraq, Syria

Pentagon revelations increase pressure on European militaries to acknowledge killing civilians

When the Department of Defense withdrew a key part of its annual report on civilian harm earlier this month, it all but confirmed something long suspected – that France, Britain and Belgium know they likely killed civilians in Iraq and Syria in specific events, but refuse publicly to accept it. The original Pentagon report to Congress, […]
2 Mar, 2021
Research
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Türkiye, Yemen

Significant drop in civilian harm during 2020 indicates Covid effect: Airwars annual report

Tracking by Airwars across multiple conflicts during 2020 shows 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. Comprehensive new data released by Airwars in its Annual […]
2 Mar, 2021
Report

Annual report – 2020/21

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 […]
18 Nov, 2020
Investigations, Policy
Iraq, Syria

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
7 Aug, 2020
Update
Iraq

Six years after the war against ISIS began, where now for Iraqis?

On the fateful evening of August 7th 2014, then-US President Barack Obama gave a live address to the nation announcing the beginning of military actions in Iraq against so-called Islamic State (also known as ISIS and Daesh), ushering in a new era of US involvement. The following day, US Navy F-18 Hornet fighters launched the […]
7 Jul, 2020
Policy
Iraq

Dutch defence minister announces fresh transparency moves

The Dutch Minister of Defence, Ank Bijleveld, has reported to Parliament on the latest progress made by the Government in improving transparency regarding civilian harm as a result of Dutch military actions. Coupled with other steps taken in the months after the Hawijah scandal, the Netherlands appears slowly to be shedding its reputation as one […]
7 May, 2020
Policy
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen

Pentagon concedes 211 more civilian deaths across four war zones in latest report to Congress

The Department of Defense (DoD) informed Congress on May 6th that US forces in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Somalia had between them killed at least 132 civilians and injured 91 more during 2019. The Pentagon also reported a further 79 historical deaths from its actions in Syria and Iraq during 2017-18. The 22-page Annual Report […]
16 Apr, 2020
Research

Airwars monthly assessment – February 2020

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.
23 Mar, 2020
Policy, Update
Iraq, Syria

Newly released documents reveal Dutch knew about possible high risk to civilians at Hawijah

Newly declassified documents released by the Dutch Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, and the Netherlands Public Prosecutor’s Office, have revealed a number of disturbing facts about Dutch airstrikes on Hawijah and Mosul in 2015 which killed dozens of civilians. The previously secret documents show, for example, that the Dutch military official with a potential […]
11 Feb, 2020
Report

Annual report – 2019/20

Civilian deaths from Russian actions in Syria dominated Airwars monitoring following the defeat of ISIS in March 2019.
6 Feb, 2020
Policy
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria

Dutch F-16 pilots break their silence on airstrikes and civilian harm

  “After a few months, it turned out that it had indeed been a wrong target. An error had been made in the intelligence process. Instead of being an ISIS target, it turned out to just be a house. A mix-up in targets. You think: shit, it’s not possible, is it? I felt sick when […]
19 Dec, 2019
Update
Iraq, Syria

Dutch defence ministry publishes incorrect statement on civilian deaths, hours before key parliamentary debate

The Netherlands Ministry of Defence (Defensie) has provided an inaccurate statement to both MPs and the media, Airwars analysis indicates – on the eve of a critical parliamentary debate on the deaths of scores of civilians in Iraq which had resulted from a Dutch airstrike in 2015. Credible reports at the time had indicated that […]
10 Dec, 2019
Research

Airwars monthly assessment – October 2019

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.
29 Nov, 2019
Policy
Iraq

Dutch Ministry of Defence promises significant transparency changes

The Dutch government is promising to introduce transparency improvements for conflict-related civilian harm resulting from its military actions. The announcement came on November 25th, in the wake of an ongoing national scandal, following the withholding for more than four years of details of Dutch involvement in an airstrike on Hawijah, Iraq, on the night of […]
11 Nov, 2019
Update

Airwars marks five years of tracking civilian harm

November 11th 2019 marks the fifth anniversary of Airwars – the international not for profit which monitors civilian harm on the battlefield, and seeks to reduce conflict casualty numbers. November 11th is recognised globally, as Armistice Day, Remembrance Day and Veterans Day. It was also the date on which the name Airwars was registered by […]
22 Oct, 2019
Update
Iraq

Investigation accuses Dutch military of involvement in 2015 Iraq airstrike which led to deaths of 70 civilians

On Friday October 18th, Dutch news organisations NRC and NOS published a story in which they accused the Dutch military of being responsible for a 2015 airstrike on an ISIS weapon storage facility in the city of Hawijah, Iraq, that led to the deaths of at least 70 civilians. The Dutch Ministry of Defence has […]
7 Aug, 2019
Update
Iraq, Syria

Five years of war and ISIS is defeated as a territorial entity – but civilian deaths remain largely uncounted

The fifth anniversary of the international war against so-called Islamic State has seen the total defeat of the terrorist group as a territorial entity in both Iraq and Syria. Now degraded to insurgency, the US and its allies try to contain the jihadist organisation. However, after five years of fighting the cost to civilians on […]
1 Aug, 2019
Research

Airwars six monthly assessment: January-June 2019

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.
16 Jul, 2019
Update
Iraq, Syria

New Airwars study finds major challenges in US media coverage of civilian harm

Despite a significant majority of almost 100 surveyed journalists believing that the reporting of civilian casualties remains critical to broader war coverage, major US news organisations have too often failed properly to report on the issue during the five year conflict against so-called Islamic State. That’s the key finding of a major new Airwars study […]
28 Jun, 2019
Research

Airwars monthly assessment – May 2019

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.
30 May, 2019
Research

Airwars monthly assessment – April 2019

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 […]
10 May, 2019
Research

Airwars monthly assessment – March 2019

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 […]
1 May, 2019
Update
Iraq, Syria

France’s war without accountability

On May 16th 2017, Sajid Ahmed Sajid and his brother Amer Ahmad Sajid, two men in their fifties and each with a salt and pepper beard, were killed by a bomb that struck their house in the well-to-do neighbourhood of Al-Najjar in West Mosul, according to locals and local media. The Coalition’s public account of […]
25 Apr, 2019
Update
Iraq, Syria

At least 1,600 civilians died in US-led Coalition actions at Raqqa, major new study finds

A major new study by Amnesty International and Airwars has concluded that at least 1,600 civilians died in Coalition strikes on the city of Raqqa in 2017 during the battle to evict so-called Islamic State – ten times the number of fatalities so far conceded by the US-led alliance, which had admitted 159 deaths to […]
8 Apr, 2019
Research

Airwars monthtly assessment – February 2019

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 […]
4 Mar, 2019
Research

Airwars monthly assessment – January 2019

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, […]
5 Feb, 2019
Update
Iraq, Syria

New Airwars project to examine US media coverage of civilian harm in war against ISIS

Hundreds of journalists will be canvassed for their views on recent conflict casualty reporting by the US media as part of a major new project by Airwars. The six month study—funded by the Reva and David Logan Foundation in the US, and the J Leon Philanthropy Council in the UK—aims to help assess and improve […]
31 Jan, 2019
Research

Airwars annual assessment 2018

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 […]