US military strike kills 123+ children at Iranian school in targeting error
A US military strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran on 28 February killed over 150 people, including at least 123 children. A Pentagon investigation found the strike resulted from preventable failures including outdated intelligence, time pressure, and over-reliance on artificial-intelligence systems in targeting.
What happened
Two Tomahawk missiles struck the Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School and its grounds in Minab, southern Iran on 28 February, killing more than 150 people, including at least 123 children.
A Pentagon investigation found a combination of preventable failures contributed to the strike, including outdated intelligence, a compressed targeting timetable, cuts to civilian-protection teams, and reliance on artificial-intelligence systems.
Reported impact
The incident is the deadliest US military targeting error of the 21st Century in terms of child casualties.
A UN investigation said there were reasonable grounds to conclude that the Minab strike amounted to war crimes.
Index analysis
Officials described the targeting failure as a series of preventable errors rather than one single mistake. The Trump administration ordered a major aerial assault on Iran in the final days of February with more than 1,000 targets struck in the first 24 hours, leaving military planners with insufficient time to finalise targets.
Governance controls
The school had been built on land that was once part of a military compound, which may have contributed to its misidentification.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.