Hegseth: US probes attack on Iranian girls’ school that killed 168 pupils

Istanbul (ANTARA) - US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said his government is ‘investigating’ air strikes against a girls’ primary school in southern Iran, which were reportedly responsible for killing 168 female pupils. ‘All I can say is we are investigating it,’ Hegseth told reporters on Wednesday when asked about the bombing of Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls’ School in the city of Minab, Iran. He added that the US military ‘never targets civilian locations.’ Iranian officials said the school was the target of a joint US-Israeli strike on Iran on Saturday (28 February), Local governor Mohammad Radmehr said the attack hit the school building while the pupils were learning, killing girls aged between 7 and 12. Iranian state media reported that 168 people were killed and at least 95 injured in the attack. Iran accuses the United States and Israel of carrying out the strike, while the Israeli military said it was not aware of any attack by Israel or the US in the area. Israel had previously denied involvement in a deadly strike in another conflict, which was later corrected after further evidence emerged.