Haditha massacre
2005 CE.
Shown on the map at 34.140°, 42.378°.
The Haditha massacre was a series of killings on November 19, 2005, in which a group of United States Marines killed 25 unarmed Iraqi civilians. It occurred in the city of Haditha in Iraq's western province of Al Anbar. Among the dead were men, women, elderly people and children as young as one year old, who were shot multiple times at close range. The massacre took place after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near a convoy, killing a lance corporal and severely injuring two other marines. In retaliation, the marines killed five men from a nearby taxicab and 19 others inside four nearby homes. An initial Marine Corps communique falsely reported that 15 civilians were killed by the bomb's blast and that eight insurgents were subsequently killed by the marines. A Time magazine reporter's questions prompted the US military to open an investigation into the incident. The investigation found evidence that "supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot civilians", according to an anonymous Pentagon official. Three officers were officially reprimanded for failing to properly initially report and investigate the killings.
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