u/Competitive-Ring4005

Al-Amiriyah Shelter Massacre, Baghdad, February 13, 1991.

The massacre occurred at 4:30 a.m. on February 13, 1991, during the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm).

​Two F-117 Stealth aircraft of the U.S. Air Force bombed the shelter using GBU-27 laser-guided smart bombs.

​The first bomb penetrated the reinforced concrete roof, creating a gap and damaging the internal structure.

​Minutes later, the second bomb entered through the same gap and exploded in the basement where hundreds were sleeping.

​The explosion caused an immediate power outage and triggered the automatic sealing of the steel doors, trapping everyone inside.

​Incinerated handprints of victims remained fused to the concrete ceiling, and human silhouettes were formed on the walls as people were reduced to shadows by the extreme heat.

​Journalist John Simpson reported the horrific sight of "bodies fused together into blocks of flesh" and a layer of melted human fat on the surface of the water used by firemen.

​Statistics :

At least 408 people were killed, including 261 women, 52 children (the youngest a 7-day-old infant), and 26 Arab nationals.

​The U.S. claimed the site was a “military command center” and that aerial images did not show civilians.

​The White House described it as an “intelligence failure” and refused to offer a formal apology or compensation to the victims’ families.

​some facts 👇🏼

​The Pentagon was fully aware the facility was a civilian shelter during the Iran-Iraq War and never announced that its protected status had ended.

​The shelter was exclusively for civilians, equipped with beds and clinics, as confirmed by international agencies.

​It was built by European companies during the 1980s, and its blueprints as a civilian shelter were internationally registered.

​Human Rights Watch described the attack as a “serious violation of the laws of war.”since the U.S. military knew the site was a civilian shelter and provided no conclusive evidence of military use.