Video and photo evidence of the aftermath of a US strike in Iran’s Qeshm Island suggests that the US dropped a 2,000-pound Mark-84 bomb on a civilian home, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
The strike, launched on July 30, killed Qeisar Jafari, who was identified by Iranian media as a taxi driver, and his wife, Zahra, and their two-year-old son, Sina. Two other children from the family survived the strike and were rescued from the rubble.
The strike also displaced a total of 20 households, as the bomb was dropped on a densely populated residential area. The Times report said that its analysis found no indication of a military site near the family’s home and noted that Iranian officials didn’t report military casualties in the attack, and the crater left behind pointed to a Mark-84.
“The large crater and structure damage is consistent with a Mark-84 2,000-pound bomb, which can be equipped with JDAM guidance kits,” Trevor Ball, of the Armament Research Services, told the Times.
The Times said that US Central Command wouldn’t respond to its questions about the munition, the intended target of the strike, and only said that it was aware of the reports of civilian casualties and was looking into them.
The US still hasn’t taken responsibility for its February 28 strike on an elementary school in Minab, southern Iran, which killed more than 100 children.
