DPA
THE HAGUE
A bomb attack by the Dutch army on a residential building in Afghanistan in 2007 that killed 20 people was unlawful, a court in The Hague ruled on Wednesday.
The court ordered the state to pay damages to the families of the victims. The court upheld a complaint by four relatives.
In 2007, Dutch units bombed a housing complex in Uruzgan province in the fight against the Taliban, although it was known that citizens lived there. The Netherlands had claimed that it was a military target.
In the court’s opinion there was insufficient evidence that the Taliban had also used the building for military purposes. The state can still appeal against the verdict.