2024-01-17T15:31:58+00:00
A-
A
A+
/ Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday that a Dutch court ordered the Dutch government to provide additional documents related to an air strike carried out by the Dutch Air Force in the city of Hawija in Kirkuk Governorate in Iraq, which was supposed to have targeted a bomb factory belonging to ISIS, but it led to It also led to the killing of dozens of civilians.
The agency explained, in a report published in English, and translated by Agency, that the court’s decision relates to a civil case filed by more than 20 victims of the air strike that took place in 2015, against what was supposed to be a bomb manufacturing site belonging to ISIS, and caused the deaths of about 70. In person.
The report quoted the victims’ lawyer as saying that the raid constituted a violation of the laws of war because it did not take into account the possibility of civilian casualties.
The report explained that the District Court in The Hague decided in a preliminary ruling that it needed more information from the Dutch state about the circumstances that made the “red card holder,” who is the person responsible for making the final decision regarding launching a strike, reach this decision to carry out the attack.
The report continued that the Dutch government, for its part, considers these documents confidential, while the district court pointed out that another court would decide on this claim.
The report also stated that lawyers representing the Dutch state said during sessions held last October that the Dutch army identified the area targeted by the raid as an industrial complex, but did not expect a large number of civilians to be there, considering that the Netherlands acted in accordance with Laws of war.
According to the Dutch Ministry of Defense, the raid in Hawija led to the death of about 70 people, including civilians and ISIS fighters.
In general, the report indicated that this raid was one of about 2,100 raids carried out by the Dutch Air Force with F-16 aircraft over Iraq and Syria within the framework of the international coalition against ISIS between 2014 and 2018.