Background

As Denmark joins the Coalition against ISIL, one question remains unanswered: What are the consequences of this military campaign to civilians?

The coalition members maintain that after 12.000 airstrikes, they have hardly killed any civilians. The spokesperson for defense of the leading Danish government party therefore recently held that “I have no reason to believe that these airstrikes have caused any civilian casualties”.

On the other hand, independent sources report “relatively large numbers” of civilian casualties.

In this event, DIIS invites you to a discussion of the war against ISIL and civilian casualties. DIIS has invited Chris Woods, director of the NGO Airwars, which monitors the international airstrikes against ISIL and other groups in Iraq and Syria and assesses claims of civilian casualties.

Airwars estimates the civilian casualty number to be at least 1,200 fatalities and their data is frequently used by international media.

Chris Woods will speak about the methodologies which Airwars uses to assess claims, the politics of the information they produce, and Airwars’ work with promoting accountability for the international forces.

For related literature see Frederik Rosén’s book:

Collateral Damage. A Candid History of a Peculiar Form of Death (2016)

http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/collateral-damage/

Speakers

Chris Woods, Director, Airwars

Jakob Peter Witt, Research Assistant, DIIS

Frederik Rosén, Senior Researcher, DIIS

Programme

Læs videre på http://www.diis.dk/node/6531