US military still probing deadly attack on Iranian girls' school 11 weeks later

The US is still investigating a deadly attack on an Iranian girls’ school 11 weeks after more than 150 people were killed, the head of US Central Command said Thursday.

"We have executed every operation consistent with the law of armed conflict. The subject of civilian casualties is a particular passion of mine. We pay attention to it. We follow all the procedures and have gone above and beyond to, in my case, personally warn the Iranian people of several instances during conflict where they were being
used as human targets," Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, said in testimony before the Senate Armed Service Committee.

"There is one active civilian casualty investigation from the 13,629 munitions," he added.

Cooper was referring to the internal probe into the Feb. 28 strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School that killed roughly 150 students, according to Iranian officials. Nearly 100 other people were injured.

Multiple media reports, using publicly available footage posted to social media before, during and after the attack, linked the strike to the US.

Asked if he has investigated claims from a New York Times report that verified damage to 22 schools during the war, Cooper said the Pentagon has not investigated the claims.

"I'll be happy to take a look at each incident," he said.