Research

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

202 posts
23 Sep, 2016
Research

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: August 2016

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, […]
23 Sep, 2016
Update

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: August 2016

Additional research by Kinda Haddad, Latif Habib, Abdulwahab Tahhan, Ziad Freeman, Basile Simon, Christiaan Triebert and Chris Woods 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 […]
22 Aug, 2016
Research

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: July 2016

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 – […]
22 Aug, 2016
Update

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: July 2016

Additional research by Kinda Haddad, Latif Habib, Abdulwahab Tahhan, Ziad Freeman, Basile Simon, Christiaan Triebert and Chris Woods 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 […]
8 Aug, 2016
Update

Second anniversary of Coalition war sees ISIL under pressure – but civilians at greater risk

Research by Latif Habib, Kinda Haddad, Alex Hopkins, Basile Simon and Christiaan Triebert The US-led Coalition enters the third year of its war against so-called Islamic State having already conducted more than 14,300 airstrikes against the terror group – and with thousands of ground forces also now committed. ISIL is under significant pressure on multiple […]
8 Aug, 2016
Update

Second anniversary of Coalition war sees ISIL under pressure – but civilians at greater risk

Research by Latif Habib, Kinda Haddad, Alex Hopkins, Basile Simon and Christiaan Triebert The US-led Coalition enters the third year of its war against so-called Islamic State having already conducted more than 14,300 airstrikes against the terror group – and with thousands of ground forces also now committed. ISIL is under significant pressure on multiple […]
28 Jul, 2016
Update

CENTCOM confirms 14 new civilian deaths in ISIL war

Research by Latif Habib and Kinda Haddad CENTCOM has conceded 14 additional civilian deaths from US military actions in the war against so-called Islamic State, in both Iraq and Syria. The admission brings to 55 the official tally of civilian dead, from more than 10,700 declared US airstrikes. The newly-admitted deaths relate to six events between July 2015 […]
28 Jul, 2016
Update

CENTCOM confirms 14 new civilian deaths in ISIL war

Research by Latif Habib and Kinda Haddad CENTCOM has conceded 14 additional civilian deaths from US military actions in the war against so-called Islamic State, in both Iraq and Syria. The admission brings to 55 the official tally of civilian dead, from more than 10,700 declared US airstrikes. The newly-admitted deaths relate to six events between July 2015 […]
22 Jul, 2016
Update

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: June 2016

Additional research by Kinda Haddad, Latif Habib, Basile Simon, Christiaan Triebert and Chris Woods 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 […]
22 Jul, 2016
Research

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: June 2016

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 […]
19 Jul, 2016
Update

Coalition-backed Manbij assault has killed hundreds of civilians, warn locals

Research by Kinda Haddad A major Coalition-backed campaign to liberate the ISIL-occupied northern Syrian town of Manbij and surrounding villages has led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians, according to local reports. The Syrian Arab Coalition (SAC) – a proxy US-trained force comprising mostly Kurdish fighters – is currently advancing on the town centre […]
19 Jul, 2016
Update

Coalition-backed Manbij assault has killed hundreds of civilians, warn locals

Research by Kinda Haddad A major Coalition-backed campaign to liberate the ISIL-occupied northern Syrian town of Manbij and surrounding villages has led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians, according to local reports. The Syrian Arab Coalition (SAC) – a proxy US-trained force comprising mostly Kurdish fighters – is currently advancing on the town centre […]
17 Jun, 2016
Update

International airstrikes and civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria: December 2015 to May 2016

Additional reporting by Kinda Haddad, Latif Habib and Chris Woods 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 […]
17 Jun, 2016
Research

International airstrikes and civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria: December 2015 to May 2016

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 […]
9 Mar, 2016
Update

More than 1,000 civilians estimated killed in 18-month Coalition air war

Additional research by Kinda Haddad, Latif Habib, Alex Hopkins and Basile Simon Latest assessments suggest more than 1,000 civilians may now have died in 18 months of Coalition airstrikes across Iraq and Syria. The estimate is fifty times greater than the number of civilian deaths so far admitted by the US-led alliance. Airwars researchers have […]
9 Mar, 2016
Update

More than 1,000 civilians estimated killed in 18-month Coalition air war

Additional research by Kinda Haddad, Latif Habib, Alex Hopkins and Basile Simon Latest assessments suggest more than 1,000 civilians may now have died in 18 months of Coalition airstrikes across Iraq and Syria. The estimate is fifty times greater than the number of civilian deaths so far admitted by the US-led alliance. Airwars researchers have […]
3 Feb, 2016
Update

British aircraft not involved in alleged Iraq civilian casualty events, says minister

Royal Air Force combat aircraft were not involved in eight alleged civilian casualty incidents in Iraq in December 2015, according to Britain’s Defence Secretary. Concerns were first raised by Scottish media and politicians in early January, after cross-referencing of reported civilian casualty incidents with UK airstrikes in Iraq had indicated possible concerns. Eight claimed incidents […]
3 Feb, 2016
Update

British aircraft not involved in alleged Iraq civilian casualty events, says minister

Royal Air Force combat aircraft were not involved in eight alleged civilian casualty incidents in Iraq in December 2015, according to Britain’s Defence Secretary. Concerns were first raised by Scottish media and politicians in early January, after cross-referencing of reported civilian casualty incidents with UK airstrikes in Iraq had indicated possible concerns. Eight claimed incidents […]
22 Jan, 2016
Update

Fresh CENTCOM admissions reveal frequency of civilian casualties

The Pentagon has confirmed five additional casualty events from US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, which officials say between them killed two civilians while injuring a further four. Yet all of those described as injured by US officials actually died from their wounds according to the public record – with each victim named at the […]
22 Jan, 2016
Update

Fresh CENTCOM admissions reveal frequency of civilian casualties

The Pentagon has confirmed five additional casualty events from US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, which officials say between them killed two civilians while injuring a further four. Yet all of those described as injured by US officials actually died from their wounds according to the public record – with each victim named at the […]
15 Jan, 2016
Update

US admits five new civilian casualty cases in Iraq and Syria

The United States has conceded five fresh civilian casualty incidents in Iraq and Syria which between them killed eight or more non-combatants, it believes. Analysis suggests the actual toll from these five events is between 14 and 21 civilians killed, raising fresh questions about US and Coalition dependence upon aerial-only footage during post-strike investigations. Airwars […]
15 Jan, 2016
Update

US admits five new civilian casualty cases in Iraq and Syria

The United States has conceded five fresh civilian casualty incidents in Iraq and Syria which between them killed eight or more non-combatants, it believes. Analysis suggests the actual toll from these five events is between 14 and 21 civilians killed, raising fresh questions about US and Coalition dependence upon aerial-only footage during post-strike investigations. Airwars […]
21 Dec, 2015
Research

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: November 2015

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 […]
21 Dec, 2015
Update

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: November 2015

Additional reporting by Kinda Haddad and Latif Habib 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 […]
23 Nov, 2015
Update

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: October 2015

Additional reporting by Latif Habib, Kinda Haddad and Basile Simon 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 […]
23 Nov, 2015
Research

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: October 2015

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 […]
21 Nov, 2015
Update

After 15 months of Iraq airstrikes, Coalition admits to killing civilians

Centcom has finally confirmed that US-led Coalition operations against Daesh in Iraq have ‘likely’ killed civilians on the ground. The November 20th admission comes some 468 days into a bombing campaign which has seen more than 5,400 airstrikes in Iraq alone, with hundreds of civilians so far alleged killed. According to a newly declassified Pentagon […]
21 Nov, 2015
Update

After 15 months of Iraq airstrikes, Coalition admits to killing civilians

Centcom has finally confirmed that US-led Coalition operations against Daesh in Iraq have ‘likely’ killed civilians on the ground. The November 20th admission comes some 468 days into a bombing campaign which has seen more than 5,400 airstrikes in Iraq alone, with hundreds of civilians so far alleged killed. According to a newly declassified Pentagon […]
19 Oct, 2015
Research

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: September 2015

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 […]
19 Oct, 2015
Update

International airstrikes and civilian casualty claims in Iraq and Syria: September 2015

Casualty research by Latif Habib and Kinda Haddad 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 […]