Source: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule8_sectionb
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 08:57:12+00:00

Document:
Note: For practice concerning attacks against combatants, see Rule 1, Section B.
Declaration Renouncing the Use, in Time of War, of Explosive Projectiles Under 400 Grammes Weight, St. Petersburg, 29 November–11 December 1868, preamble.
According to Article 24(2) of the 1923 Hague Rules of Air Warfare, “military forces” are military objectives.
Article 5(1) of the 1938 ILA Draft Convention for the Protection of Civilian Populations against New Engines of War provides that “aerial bombardment is prohibited unless directed at combatant forces”.
Paragraph I(1) of the proposed annex to Article 7(2) of the 1956 New Delhi Draft Rules stated that “armed forces, including auxiliary or complementary organizations, and persons who, though not belonging to the above-mentioned formations, nevertheless take part in the fighting” are military objectives considered to be of “generally recognized military importance”.
Draft Rules for the Limitation of the Dangers Incurred by the Civilian Population in Time of War, drafted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, September 1956, submitted to governments for their consideration on behalf of the 19th International Conference of the Red Cross, New Delhi, 28 October–7 November, Res. XIII, § I(1) of the proposed annex to Article 7(2).
Australia’s Defence Force Manual (1994) lists among military objectives “all persons taking a direct part in hostilities, whether military or civilian”.
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, § 527(d); see also § 916(a) (“armed forces except medical and religious personnel”).
5.27 The term “military objective” includes combatant members of the enemy armed forces and their military weapons, vehicles, equipment and installations.
• all persons taking a direct part in hostilities, whether military or civilian.
Australia, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Doctrine Publication 06.4, Australian Defence Headquarters, 11 May 2006, §§ 5.27 and 5.31.
Benin’s Military Manual (1995) considers the armed forces, with the exception of medical and religious personnel and objects, to be military objectives.
Burundi’s Regulations on International Humanitarian Law (2007) states that “civilians who take direct part in combat become military objectives”.
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (1992) states that the armed forces are considered military objectives, with the exception of religious and medical personnel.
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (2006) qualifies “Armed Forces (with the exception of religious and medical personnel)” as “military objectives”.
Canada’s LOAC Manual (1999) considers that combatants, airborne troops and unlawful combatants are “legitimate targets”.
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Level, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 1999, p. 4-1, § 7 and p. 4-2, §§ 12–14.
1. Airborne troops are combatants and therefore legitimate targets. They may be attacked during their descent by parachute from aircraft.
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels , Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, §§ 406.1 and 408–410.1.
The Central African Republic’s Instructor’s Manual (1999) states in Volume 1 (Basic and team leader instruction): “The following are considered military objectives: … the armed forces, other than medical personnel”.
Chad’s Instructor’s Manual (2006) states that military objectives may include “members of the armed forces”.
Chad, Droit international humanitaire, Manuel de l’instructeur en vigueur dans les forces armées et de sécurité, Ministère de la Défense, Présidence de la République, Etat-major des Armées, 2006, p. 35; see also pp. 36, 57 and 58.
According to Colombia’s Instructors’ Manual (1999), combatants are military objectives.
Colombia, Derechos Humanos & Derecho Internacional Humanitario – Manual de Instrucción de la Guía de Conducta para el Soldado e Infante de Marina, Ministerio de Defensa Nacional, Oficina de Derechos Humanos, Fuerzas Militares de Colombia, Santafé de Bogotá, 1999, p. 15.
- the armed forces with the exception of the medical service and religious personnel and objects.
According to Croatia’s LOAC Compendium (1991), military objectives include the armed forces.
Croatia, Compendium “Law of Armed Conflicts”, Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Defence, 1991, p. 7; see also Basic Rules of the Law of Armed Conflicts – Commanders’ Manual, Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Defence, 1992, § 4 (“combatants”).
Ecuador’s Naval Manual (1989) provides that combatants and troop concentrations are military objectives.
According to France’s LOAC Summary Note (1992), combatants are military objectives.
France, Fiche de Synthèse sur les Règles Applicables dans les Conflits Armés, Note No. 432/DEF/EMA/OL.2/NP, Général de Corps d’Armée Voinot (pour l’Amiral Lanxade, Chef d’Etat-major des Armées), 1992, § 1.2; see also Fiche didactique relative au droit des conflits armés, Directive of the Ministry of Defence, 4 January 2000, annexed to the Directive No. 147 of the Ministry of Defence of 4 January 2000, p. 2 (“military units”).
Germany’s Military Manual (1992) provides that military objectives include, in particular, armed forces.
According to Hungary’s Military Manual (1992), military objectives include the armed forces.
Ireland’s Basic LOAC Guide (2005) states: “Military objectives … obviously include enemy soldiers and combatants”.
Israel’s Manual on the Laws of War (1998) states that “any soldier (male or female!) in the enemy’s army is a legitimate military target for attack, whether on the battlefield or outside of it”.
The fundamental rule is that war should be conducted between armies and each army should only attack the army of the enemy. A military target is any target that, if attacked, would damage the military competence/fitness of the other side.
Italy’s IHL Manual (1991) provides that the armed forces are military objectives.
Italy, Manuale di diritto umanitario, Introduzione e Volume I, Usi e convenzioni di Guerra, SMD-G-014, Stato Maggiore della Difesa, I Reparto, Ufficio Addestramento e Regolamenti, Rome, 1991, Vol. I, § 12; see also Regole elementari di diritto di guerra, SMD-G-012, Stato Maggiore della Difesa, I Reparto, Ufficio Addestramento e Regolamenti, Rome, 1991, § 4 (“combatants”).
Kenya’s LOAC Manual (1997) provides that “the armed forces except medical service and religious personnel and objects” are military objectives.
According to Madagascar’s Military Manual (1994), military objectives include “armed forces, with the exception of medical units and religious personnel and objects”.
According to Nigeria’s Military Manual (1994) and Soldiers’ Code of Conduct, combatants are military objectives.
Nigeria, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Directorate of Legal Services, Nigerian Army, 1994, p. 39, § 5(a); see also Code of Conduct for Combatants, “The Soldier’s Rules”, Nigerian Army, undated, § 1.
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states: “[Air] bombardment is only legitimate when it is exclusively directed against the following objectives: military forces”.
According to the Soldier’s Rules (1989) of the Philippines, enemy combatants are military objectives.
Philippines, Soldier’s Rules, in Handbook on Discipline, Annex C(I), General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City, 1989, § 2.
According to the Republic of Korea’s Military Law Manual (1996), combatants are military objectives.
The Russian Federation’s Regulations on the Application of IHL (2001) states: “military objectives include units of armed forces (personnel, weapons and military equipment), except for medical units and medical transports”.
Spain’s LOAC Manual (1996) states that “the armed forces, except medical and religious personnel” are military objectives.
Spain, Orientaciones. El Derecho de los Conflictos Armados, Publicación OR7-004, 2 Tomos, aprobado por el Estado Mayor del Ejército, Division de Operaciones, 18 March 1996, Vol. I, § 4.2.b; see also § 4.2.b.(1).
Spain’s LOAC Manual (2007) states that “the armed forces, except medical personnel, religious personnel and personnel engaged solely in civil defence tasks,” are military objectives.
Spain, Orientaciones. El Derecho de los Conflictos Armados, Tomo 1, Publicación OR7–004, (Edición Segunda), Mando de Adiestramiento y Doctrina, Dirección de Doctrina, Orgánica y Materiales, 2 November 2007, § 4.2.b; see also § 7.3.a.(6).
Spain, Orientaciones. El Derecho de los Conflictos Armados, Tomo 1, Publicación OR7–004, (Edición Segunda), Mando de Adiestramiento y Doctrina, Dirección de Doctrina, Orgánica y Materiales, 2 November 2007, § 4.2.b.(1).
The manual also states that “combatants, including airborne troops during their descent” are military objectives.
Spain, Orientaciones. El Derecho de los Conflictos Armados, Tomo 1, Publicación OR7–004, (Edición Segunda), Mando de Adiestramiento y Doctrina, Dirección de Doctrina, Orgánica y Materiales, 2 November 2007, § 4.5.b.(1).(a); see also § 7.3.a.(6).
Sweden, International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict, with reference to the Swedish Total Defence System, Swedish Ministry of Defence, January 1991, Section 3.2.1.5, p. 40.
Switzerland’s Basic Military Manual (1987) considers that the armed forces are military objectives liable to attack.
Togo’s Military Manual (1996) considers the armed forces, with the exception of medical and religious personnel and objects, to be military objectives.
Ukraine, Manual on the Application of IHL Rules, Ministry of Defence, 11 September 2004, § 1.2.22.
The manual further states that “military objectives” include “military units (personnel, weaponry and materiel) with the exception of medical units, means of medical transportation, religious personnel and their equipment)”.
The UK LOAC Pamphlet (1981) states that military objectives include “concentrations of troops and individual enemy combatants”.
According to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s Military Manual (1988), the armed forces are a military objective.
Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of, Propisi o Primeri Pravila Medjunarodnog Ratnog Prava u Oruzanim Snagama SFRJ, PrU-2, Savezni Sekretarijat za Narodnu Odbranu (Pravna Uprava), 1988, § 67.
Italy’s Law of War Decree (1938), as amended in 1992, provides that the armed forces are military objectives.
Insurgents who continuously take part in the armed conflict, as the Taliban in this case, are not civilians but legitimate military objectives which may be lawfully attacked even outside of ongoing armed hostilities.
Germany, Federal Court of Justice, Federal Prosecutor General, Fuel Tankers case, Decision, 16 April 2010, p. 47.
It is not questioned that the armed Taliban fighters who abducted the fuel tankers and who make up a significant part of the victims of the bombing were members of an organized armed group which is a party to the armed conflict. These fighters thus constitute a legitimate military objective whose “destruction” is legal within the limits of military necessity.
Germany, Federal Court of Justice, Federal Prosecutor General, Fuel Tankers case, Decision, 16 April 2010, p. 60.
In 2010, in its Report on IHL and Current Armed Conflicts, Switzerland’s Federal Council stated that “government troops, … , according to international humanitarian law, represent legitimate military objectives and may be attacked at any moment”.
Switzerland, Federal Council, Report on IHL and Current Armed Conflicts, 17 September 2010, Section 4.1, p. 20.
In 1991, in a report submitted to the UN Security Council on operations in the Gulf War, the United Kingdom stated that attacks had been directed against Iraq’s air force and land army.
To fulfil its task of disseminating IHL, the ICRC has delegates around the world teaching armed and security forces that military objectives include: “the armed forces except medical service and religious personnel and objects”.
In 1985, in a report on violations of the laws of war in Nicaragua, Americas Watch listed “members of the Popular Sandinista Army and militias”, as well as “members of ARDE, FDN, MISURA and MISURASATA [two indigenous organizations fighting against the Nicaraguan Government]”, as persons which “can arguably be regarded as legitimate military objectives subject to direct attack”.
(b) Members of the FMLN [Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional].
In 1989, in a report on violations of the laws of war in Angola, Africa Watch listed “members of the armed forces and civil defense of Angola and other armed forces assisting the defense of Angola, such as the Cuban armed forces”, as well as “members of UNITA [União Nacional para Independência Total de Angola] armed forces and other armed forces assisting UNITA, such as the South African Defense Force and South West Africa armed forces”, as persons which “may be regarded as legitimate military objectives subject to direct attack by combatants and mines”.

References: § 527
 § 916
 § 7
 § 4
 § 1
 § 12
 § 4
 § 5
 § 1
 § 2
 § 4
 § 4
 § 4
 § 7
 § 4
 § 4
 § 7
 § 1
 § 67