Six years after a Dutch air raid as part of the coalition against the Islamic State, the scars of the disaster are still everywhere in the Iraqi city of Hawija. The target was an explosives factory, but at least two tankers outside the factory were full of explosives, and tons of chemicals used to make bombs were stored nearby. At least 70 people were killed and hundreds wounded. Part of the industrial area where the factory stood is still just ruins.
The inhabitants of Hawija knew that Dutch planes were responsible for the disaster that befell their city in June 2015 long before it was revealed in the Dutch media. “We knew right after it happened, from leaks from the operation”, mayor Sabhan Khalaf Ali al-Jubouri explained. “Why is the Dutch government saying it did not know? Someone is trying to escape responsibility.”
