Amiriyah shelter bombing

Significance

The destruction of the Amiriyah shelter on 13 February 1991 killed at least 408 civilians in the Amiriyah neighborhood of Baghdad when the U.S. Air Force struck the facility with two GBU-27 Paveway III laser-guided bombs. Human Rights Watch characterised the strike as a war crime. The incident became one of the most scrutinized episodes of the Gulf War air campaign, raising contested questions about targeting, intelligence, and the protection of civilians under the laws of armed conflict.