On the night of 2nd and 3rd June 2015, a US-led coalition bombed the town of Hawija, Iraq. The attack was targeting an IS bomb facility but led to massive secondary explosions that wiped out an entire neighbourhood and destroyed infrastructure and vital facilities, including a hospital. It took the Dutch government four years to be transparent about its involvement in this bombardment, that too only after Dutch investigative journalists found out that the Dutch military had carried out the attack. Researchers Jip van Dort, Lauren Gould and Marrit Woudwijk, all associated with the Intimacies of Remote Warfare programme of the Utrecht University, investigated the incident and have compiled their findings in this book (in Dutch).

How could dozens of civilians be killed in Hawija, despite official procedures and the deployment of precision weapons? Why was the attack kept secret for years? What impact did the attack have on civilians on the ground, and on our democracy? And what does this tell us about our contemporary warfare? The authors conclude that these questions can only be answered by bringing together multiple perspectives. Therefore, this publication reflects the insights of politicians, NGOs, scientists, survivors and human rights lawyer and founder of The Nuhanovic Foundation, Liesbeth Zegveld.

In this book, the authors show devastating effects of long-distance wars, and call for an honest discussion on civilian casualties.

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To read the book, click here.

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