Seven civilians were killed in a Dutch F-16 bombing raid on the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2016. NRC, NOS and Nieuwsuur report this after research. The defense ministry says it will continue to investigate the airstrike.
Between 2014 and 2018, Dutch fighter jets took part in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Iraq and parts of Syria. In this context, the F-16s have flown more than 3,000 missions. So far, two attacks were known to have resulted in a total of dozens of civilian deaths.
According to NOS, Nieuwsuur and NRC, who investigated the scene, two university employees and five of their relatives were killed in the March 22, 2016 attack on a residential complex of Mosul University. The pilots planned to attack an IS headquarters.
Investigating Centcom insufficiently
The US military headquarters in charge of fighting IS (Centcom) investigated all attacks that could have caused civilian deaths. Centcom concluded in 2017 that no civilians were killed in the Mosul attack. That same year, Centcom also received a report that civilian deaths had likely occurred in the attack.
Since Centcom saw nothing special in the video of the attack, the civilian casualty report was deemed implausible according to NOS, Nieuwsuur and NRC. The Dutch Defense Ministry was not informed. Subsequent research by the US Department of Defense found that Centcom’s investigations into civilian casualties varied widely in quality.
Relatives of the March 22, 2016 attack now want an independent investigation. Four civilians were killed in another Dutch attack on Mosul a year earlier. The defense subsequently paid compensation to the surviving relatives. And at least seventy civilians were killed in a Dutch bombing raid on Hawija.
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
