Netherlands admits “error” in deadly 2015 Hawija airstrike
Shafaq News– Kirkuk
On Thursday, Dutch Defense Minister
Ruben Brekelmans apologized for a 2015 airstrike in Iraq’s Hawija district that
killed dozens of civilians during the fight against ISIS.
Addressing local officials,
including Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha, and families of the victims during a
visit to Kirkuk, Brekelmans inspected the strike site, southwest of the city,
and acknowledged delays in confronting the incident. “Yes, we were late in
dealing with this mistake,” he said. “We apologize for an error based on
inaccurate intelligence that led to the killing of civilians.”
Dutch warplanes carried out the
strike on June 2, 2015, when Hawija was under ISIS control. The attack targeted
what Dutch forces believed was an ISIS explosives site, but a massive secondary
explosion tore through nearby residential neighborhoods. Official assessments
indicated that about 70 civilians were killed, alongside extensive destruction
of homes, factories, and government buildings.
In 2019, the Dutch government
acknowledged that the Hawija operation caused civilian casualties, citing
operational errors and the unexpected scale of the blast, while residents have
continued to demand financial compensation, which experts estimate could reach
tens of millions of dollars.
Brekelmans said Dutch law does not allow individual compensation payments for all those affected, but his country has deployed teams in Baghdad and Erbil to coordinate with Hawija’s local administration on projects intended to benefit the wider community.
