On the evening of Wednesday, March 3, 2026, at 20:30, the city of Bokan in West Azerbaijan Province was targeted by airstrikes conducted by U.S. and Israeli forces. According to field reports, the Bokan Governorate building, located on one of the city’s main and high-density axes, was directly hit. In addition to destroying the administrative building, the strike caused extensive damage to surrounding residential and commercial areas.
Human Casualties and Infrastructural Damage
As a result of this attack, unfortunately, three citizens lost their lives. The names of the deceased are:
Peyman Erfani
Shayan Mam-Salimi
Ardalan Pak-Del
Furthermore, 57 individuals were injured in the incident, with reports indicating severe cases and amputations among the victims. The attack led to the destruction of residential homes, shops, private vehicles, and significant damage to urban infrastructure, creating difficult conditions for emergency response and local residents.
Legal Assessment under International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
The attack on an administrative center in the heart of an urban area with a high civilian density constitutes a violation of several fundamental rules of international law:
Principle of Distinction: According to Article 48 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, parties to a conflict must at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants. Targeting a direct civilian administrative building is a gross violation of this principle.
Prohibition of Indiscriminate Attacks and the Principle of Proportionality: Under Article 51, attacks that knowingly cause incidental loss of civilian life which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated are prohibited.
Precaution in Attack: Based on Article 57, attackers are obligated to take all feasible precautions to minimize injury to civilians. Additionally, per Article 52, civilian objects are immune from attack unless their military use is established.
War Crimes and Criminal Responsibility
Given the human dimensions of this incident and the intentional or reckless targeting of a populated civilian area, this action can be prosecuted as a War Crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
