Tag

#indiscriminate attack

Military attacks that are not directed at a specific military objective or that employ means incapable of being directed at such an objective. Prohibited under Article 51 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.

3 incidents

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Trump Issues Ultimatum: 'A Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight' Unless Iran Capitulates

Trump's explicit threats to destroy all civilian infrastructure in Iran — every bridge, every power plant — with the stated goal of ensuring Iran 'could literally never rebuild as a nation again' were characterised by Amnesty International as 'a threat to commit war crimes' and by HRW as threats against objects protected by IHL. Carrying them out would raise war-crime liability under Rome Statute art. 8(2)(b)(ii)/(iv). The threats themselves are prohibited by AP I art. 51(2) if their primary purpose is to terrorise civilians, but they are not a listed Rome Statute crime. The threatened nationwide demolition was not carried out on April 7.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Lamerd Sports Hall Strike: US Airburst Missiles Hit a Sports Centre, School and Homes in Southern Iran, Killing At Least 21 (February 2026)

Precision Strike Missiles, which burst above their target and scatter about 180,000 tungsten pellets, hit a sports hall, a school and homes in Lamerd on 28 February 2026, killing at least 21 civilians. A UN fact-finding mission found reasonable grounds that the US was responsible and that the strike was an indiscriminate attack amounting to a war crime under customary law, applying a recklessness standard. The US denies responsibility.

Grade 5 of 5: International Crime (Rome Statute)

US Airstrike Kills 61 to 68 African Migrants in Yemen Detention Center

US airstrikes killed 61 to 68 detained African migrants sleeping in a Sa'ada detention center during Operation Rough Rider. Amnesty International's investigation found no evidence the facility was a military target and concluded the strike was indiscriminate and must be investigated as a war crime.