‘Nobody did it on purpose’: Trump says Iranian girls’ school bombing was not intentional
US President Donald Trump said the bombing of a girls’ school in Iran that killed 168 children was not an intentional attack and said the investigation into the incident was still ongoing. Speaking on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Wednesday, Trump said there was no evidence the school was deliberately targeted during the conflict.“This is under investigation,” Trump told a news conference. Referring to the attack, he added that mistakes are made in war and said: “No one did it on purpose.”Last month, Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, told Congress that the military investigation into the bombing was “complicated” because the school is located at an active site for Iranian cruise missiles.The Pentagon has stepped up its investigation into events on the first day of the conflict on February 28. According to Iranian officials, 168 children, mostly girls, were killed in the Minab school bombing.According to Reuters, a preliminary U.S. military investigation found that U.S. troops may have been responsible for the destruction of the school. The report prompted a broader Pentagon review of the incident.The attack on the Minab girls’ school attracted international attention because of the high civilian death toll, mostly girls at the school, and Iranian authorities blamed the United States for the attack. The attack occurred on the first day of the U.S. attack on Iran in February.U.S. officials insist the circumstances of the explosion are still under investigation and that questions center on the school’s proximity to military infrastructure.The Pentagon has not released the final results of its investigation into the incident.