Iraqi no-fly zones conflict
The Iraqi no-fly zones conflict was a low-level conflict in the two no-fly zones (NFZs) in Iraq that were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom, and France after the Gulf War of 1991. The United States stated that the NFZs were intended to protect the ethnic Kurdish minority in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by the United States and the United Kingdom until 2003, when it was rendered obsolete by the 2003 invasion of Iraq. French aircraft patrols also participated until France withdrew in 1996.[4]
The Iraqi government claimed 1,400 civilians were killed by Coalition bombing during the NFZ.[5] The Kurdish-dominated north gained effective autonomy and was protected from a feared repeat of the Anfal genocide in 1988 that killed tens of thousands of civilians. Over 280,000 sorties were flown in the first 9 years of the NFZs.[6]
This military action was not authorised by the United Nations.[7] The Secretary-General of the UN at the time the resolution was passed, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, called the no-fly zones "illegal" in a later interview with John Pilger.[8][9]
Civilian deaths[edit]
The United Nations reported that in 1999 alone 144 civilians were killed during Coalition bombing raids.[5] By 1999 over 1,800 bombs had been dropped on Iraq,[12] while Iraq stated that 1,400 civilians died due to bombing during the NFZ.[5]
The United States and coalition countries denied these allegations and cited popular Kurdish and Shia demands for no-fly zones, in order to protect against Saddam Hussein, who unhindered had committed numerous atrocities a few years earlier, such as the infamous 1988 Anfal genocide that killed 50,000 to 182,000[13] Kurdish civilians. The establishing of no-fly zones effectively cut off Saddam Hussein from much of the north and secured the Kurdish population, who gained effective autonomy directly following the intervention. This autonomy has continued to thrive and even avoided the chaos and bloodshed that characterized the rest of Iraq during the 2003 Iraq war.