Report: Satellite Images Confirm 120 Minab Schoolchildren Were Hit by US Missiles
- The strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab stands as the deadliest civilian tragedy of the US-Israeli war with Iran, killing 156 people including 120 children
- Evidence reviewed by experts points to US forces unintentionally hitting the school, raising urgent questions about intelligence failures and civilian protection
- Iranian authorities insist the attack shows Washington’s campaign has devastated civilians, while the US investigation remains ongoing with no final findings released
The BBC has revisited the findings surrounding the February 28 strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, southern Iran.
The attack, which occurred during the opening hours of the US-Israeli war with Iran, killed 156 people, including 120 children, a pregnant woman, and her unborn child.
Source: Getty Images
Expert analysis indicates that US forces likely struck the school unintentionally. The building stood next to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound, which satellite imagery confirms was hit several times.
US military investigation
The US has not formally accepted responsibility. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that US forces “never target civilian targets” and announced a higher-level investigation. Reports from US media suggest outdated intelligence data may have led to the school being misidentified as part of a military site.
Video evidence shows the IRGC compound was struck by a Tomahawk missile — a weapon type associated with US forces. Satellite images confirm both the compound and the school were hit. Historical records reveal the school site was once part of the IRGC complex but had been walled off since 2016, with its own entrances and yards.
Iranian response
Iranian authorities argue the strike demonstrates that Washington’s campaign, presented as targeting military infrastructure, has instead inflicted devastating civilian losses. The foreign ministry rejected US claims that the school was located on an “active IRGC cruise missile base,” calling it a “baseless fabrication.”
Local residents told BBC Persian the compound had previously been used by an IRGC naval brigade but believed its military use had ceased years earlier. Photographs show civilian facilities such as a clinic and car wash within the compound.
Human cost
Teachers and survivors continue to mourn. Amaineh Nademi, a first-grade teacher, recalls: “You can’t call it a school — just walls that smell of death, grief and the blood that was shed here.”
Rescue workers are still searching for remains, and families gather daily at the site to pray.
The US Department of Defense told the BBC the investigation remains ongoing, with no further updates. The tragedy in Minab stands as the deadliest civilian incident of the war, raising urgent questions about intelligence failures and the protection of non-combatants in conflict zones.
Source: Getty Images
Israeli strike kills 19, mostly women and children
Legit.ng earlier reported that at least 19 people, mostly women and children, were killed in an Israeli strike on a three-story building in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon.
TRT World reported, citing local media, that the development occurred on Sunday morning, March 8. Steve Sweeney, an award-winning, Beirut-based war correspondent who reports from the ground, also confirmed the sad update.
Source: Legit.ng
