Report: Civilian Casualties of Turkish Military Operations in Northern Iraq (2015 - 2021)
Hadia Mustafa Mohamata lying in a bed in her village in Hirure after being injured by a bombing.
On 20 July 2022 an attack was recorded in the village of Parakhe, near Zakho (Duhok province). The attack saw 9 civilians killed and 24 wounded. This kind of attack by Turkey, which targets civilians, has been taking place for seven years in northern Iraq, and have killed a minimum of 98 civilians, also causing thousands of displaced persons. These are the main findings of a new report published today, 23rd August 2022.
The research, by CPT alongside the international civil society coalition of the End Cross Border Bombing Campaign (ECBBC), lays out for the first time and in meticulous detail the civilian impact of an often underreported aggression.
From 2015 to 2021, Turkish forces have launched more than 4,000 aerial, artillery, and ground attacks within the borders of Iraq, of which 1,600 were registered in 2021 alone, the report documents.
Not solely have these operations fueled insecurity and instability in the area, but they disproportionately impact the lives of civilians living in the region, as the report points out.
Among the key findings of the report are:
Turkish military actions have killed between 98 and 123 civilians and in at least 88 incidents since 2015.
Those incidents involving civilian harm have been on the rise, at least 40 incidents have taken place in the 2020-2021.
More than 55 civilian farmers and livestock owners were killed or wounded by Turkish forces while farming or tending their livestock.
13% of those killed are women, with 87% men. In addition, at least six children were killed in the attacks, with a further 14 injured.
An estimated 500 villages have been abandoned during the same period.
"Every story mentioned in this report matters, and we should not wait longer to document more stories. Instead, we all together as human beings must seek and take action for peace for the Iraqi people. Only together can we work to not let the tragedy of history repeat itself on this land," states Mohammed Salah with Community Peacemaker Teams, an ECBBC member organization.
“There has been much discussion of the disastrous US-led invasion of Iraq, but this is in many ways the forgotten invasion of Iraq.” he added.