Horror in Minab: Over 50 Children Killed as US-Israeli Strikes Hit Iranian Girls’ Elementary School Amid Escalating War
Horror in Minab: Over 50 Children Killed as US-Israeli Strikes Hit Iranian Girls’ Elementary School Amid Escalating War
On February 28, 2026, the Middle East plunged deeper into crisis as the United States and Israel unleashed coordinated airstrikes across Iran, targeting what officials described as military leadership, Revolutionary Guard facilities, ballistic missile sites, and command infrastructure. The operation—dubbed Roaring Lion by Israel and involving U.S. forces in what President Donald Trump called major combat operations—sparked immediate Iranian retaliation with missiles and drones aimed at Israel and multiple U.S. bases in the Gulf region.
Amid the barrage of military exchanges, one incident has drawn global condemnation and horror: a devastating strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh, a girls’ elementary school in Minab, a city in southern Iran’s Hormozgan province near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The attack occurred early on the first day of Iran’s workweek, when the school was filled with young students aged roughly 7 to 12.
Iranian state media—including IRNA, Tasnim News Agency, Mehr, and IRIB—reported the strike killed dozens of children and staff, with the death toll climbing rapidly throughout the day. Initial figures cited at least 40 fatalities, rising to over 50, then 57, 63, and up to 85 according to later updates from Minab’s judiciary and health authorities. Scores more were injured—estimates range from 45 to over 90—with many trapped under rubble as rescue teams worked frantically. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the strike as a cowardly attack that claimed the lives of dozens of innocent children, vowing it would not go unanswered. President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed the outrage, describing it as inflicting deep pain on the nation and the world.
Footage broadcast by Iranian state television and shared by international outlets, including Al Jazeera, showed a scene of utter destruction: collapsed walls, scattered debris across the school grounds, and thick smoke rising from the once-vibrant educational facility. Parents rushed to the site in panic, searching for their daughters amid the chaos.
U.S. and Israeli officials have not issued specific comments on the Minab school strike, maintaining that their operations focused exclusively on military and high-value targets associated with Iran’s nuclear ambitions and regional aggression. Any civilian casualties, they have implied in broader statements, would be unintended collateral damage—though independent verification remains severely limited due to restricted access, ongoing hostilities, and the fluid nature of reporting.
The Minab incident is part of a wider pattern of reported civilian impacts from the day’s strikes, with Iranian sources also alleging damage to other civilian sites. As explosions continued into the evening and Iranian reprisals targeted U.S. facilities in Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and beyond, the region faces the specter of a prolonged, multi-front war.
International calls for de-escalation and humanitarian access have intensified, with fears mounting over the potential for further civilian suffering in what has become one of the most direct confrontations between these powers in decades. Developments remain fast-moving, with casualty figures and details subject to change as more information emerges.
