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By Areeba Fatima

On Feb. 28, 2026, an American airstrike killed 165 school girls at the Shajaraeh Tayyebeh school in the city of Minab in Iran.

This marked the beginning of a war which has impacted global oil trade, killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dragged the entire region into war. UNICEF released a statement on the same day, marking it "a dangerous moment for millions of children in the region."

A few weeks later, Amnesty International published a report calling for accountability against those involved in the planning and execution of the “unlawful US strike on a school in Minab, Hormozgan.”

As several observers called it an “unprecedented” attack on children, it is worth comparing deaths of children across U.S. airstrikes and drone strikes in the first 20 days of a war that the country initiated or participated in.

Syria (2014)

American Wars Kill Children

In the last 20 years of American wars, here is how many children

were killed in the first 20 days, each time.

US-Yemen (2025)

Afghanistan (2001)

Israel-Iran (The 12 Day war)(2025)

Israel-Iran (2026)

Iraq War / Second Gulf War (2003)

Somalia (2007)

*Each figure represents one child

*Children killed in Gaza in the first 20 days of war are not included here.

Israel killed 3,000 children with America-funded weapons in just the first 20 days.

*Several conflicts like drone strikes in Pakistan, and Libya, are not shown, because of no reported deaths of children in the first 20 days.

American Wars Kill Children

Syria (2014)

In the last 20 years of American wars, here is how many children

were killed in the first 20 days, each time.

Afghanistan (2001)

US-Yemen (2025)

Israel-Iran (The 12 Day war)(2025)

Iraq War / Second Gulf War (2003)

Israel-Iran (2026)

Somalia (2007)

*Each figure represents one child

*Children killed in Gaza in the first 20 days of war are not included here.

Israel killed 3,000 children with America-funded weapons in just the first 20 days.

*Several conflicts like drone strikes in Pakistan, and Libya, are not shown, because of no reported deaths of children in the first 20 days.

American Wars Kill Children

In the last 20 years of American wars, here is how many children

were killed in the first 20 days, each time.

Afghanistan (2001)

Somalia (2007)

Syria (2014)

Iraq War / Second Gulf War (2003)

US-Yemen (2025)

Israel-Iran (The 12 Day war)

(2025)

Israel-Iran (2026)

*Each figure represents one child

*Children killed in Gaza in the first 20 days of war are not included here.Israel killed 3,000 children with America-funded weapons in just the first 20 days.

*Several conflicts like drone strikes in Pakistan, and Libya, are not shown, because of no reported deaths of children in the first 20 days.

American wars kill children, but the Minab airstrike is still unprecedented