Netherlands admits air strike killed civilians in 2015

<p>The Dutch government has admitted that a bomb dropped by a Dutch -16 fighter killed 70 civilians in an airstrike in Northern Iraq.&nbsp;</p> <p>In a letter to parliament, the Dutch Defense Ministry&nbsp; wrote that an airstrike targeting an alleged Islamic State (IS) bomb factory in northern Iraq&nbsp;killed about 70 people, including IS fighters and civilians.&nbsp;</p> <p>On June 2 2015, a bomb&nbsp;dropped by a Dutch F-16 fighter hit the bomb factory in Hawija,&nbsp;near the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq,&nbsp;on the night of June 2, 2015.&nbsp;</p> <p>Defense Minister, Anna Bijleveld-Schouten, wrote that "intelligence available to the Netherlands did not anticipate civilian&nbsp;deaths because there were no civilians living in the area near the target."</p> <p>The Defense Ministry said that Dutch F-16s flew about 2,100 raids over Iraq as part of the anti-IS coalition between October 2014 and 2018.</p> <p>Read more <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/netherlands-admits-killing-up-to-70-civilians-in-…">here</a> and <a href="http://IS conflict: Dutch air strike killed about 70 people in Iraq in 2015 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50286829">here</a>.&nbsp;</p>