International Military Intervention and Reparations

International military intervention in foreign civil conflicts has become one of the most prevalent forms of military activity today. In this section you can study legal instruments, cases, reports and scholarship relating to this particular type of military action, and to the situation of civilians who suffer harm directly caused by it.

Area of Conflict:

The most recent international military intervention in Afghanistan lasted from October 2001 until August 2021. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001, foreign military forces were deployed to Afghanistan with the intention of crushing Al Qaeda, removing the Taliban regime and helping to rebuild and stabilize the country. The Taliban regrouped however, and waged a war against both the Afghan government and the international troops operating on the ground. An estimated 46,319 civilians died as a direct result of this war.

In 2013 an international coalition led by the United States supported the Iraqi government in fighting against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) that lasted until 2017. The coalition’s airstrike campaign and ground combat operations began to engage seriously in 2015, supporting the recapture of Iraqi cities and the eventual defeat of ISIL in Iraq. Some of these military actions allegedly caused the unlawful death of innocent civilians.