Since then, Israel and the US have tried to distance themselves from the attack, even as evidence mounts that the US was responsible for the killings. To critics, the bombing of the school has become emblematic of the horrors of the war that the US and Israel have unleashed, and that Iran has responded to by launching thousands of missiles and drones not just at Israel and US facilities across the region, but also at Gulf neighbours who have tried hard to not get sucked into the conflict.
So what do we know about the totemic incident that has shaped, for many, the early days of the war? The girls’ school, Shajareh Tayyebeh, was located in the city of Minab, near a base belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
It was hit by a missile on February 28 at approximately 10:45am local time (07:15 GMT), a peak hour for classroom activity. The blast destroyed the two-storey building, causing the roof to collapse on students and teachers inside.
At least 170 people, most of them children, were killed. Dozens of others were injured. The school is located in Minab, in Iran’s strategic Hormozgan province, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and hosts several IRGC naval facilities. Footage from the scene suggests the school was likely hit by a Tomahawk missile.
Preliminary investigations suggest the school may have been hit by a US missile because of a targeting error, though the exact circumstances remain under investigation. Analysts say the strike may have been caused by outdated targeting information, as the school is on the same block as buildings used by the IRGC’s navy and the site of the school was originally part of the base.
For years the school had been separated and had its own walls and entrances. “It seems that the United States Central Command did not keep its target list up to date,” Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and senior adviser with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, told Al Jazeera.
“Apparently, the building shifted some years ago from military use to the school and the Central Command targeting cell did not pick up that change,” he added. The Shahid Absalan clinic, under the supervision of the IRGC navy’s medical command, is about 238 metres (780 feet) from the site, while the Seyed al-Shohada IRGC cultural complex is 286 metres (938 feet) away.
Source: Here