MASSACRE OF INNOCENTS

Funeral in Iran for 150 girls killed in US/Israeli strikes

- BY DANNY DE VAAL

THOUSANDS of people took to the streets of war ravaged Iran in a mass funeral procession after 150 schoolgirls died during the first hours of the US-Israeli bombing campaign.

Iranian state media showed scenes of a sea of people and grieving parents holding aloft pictures of dead school children.

Donald Trump said yesterday the US would continue its campaign in Iran and that "big scale" attacks are on the way.

"We are knocking the crap out of them," he told reporters.

The girls' elementary school in Minab was razed to the ground during the first hours of the conflict.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the deaths would be investigated and insisted the US had not targeted civilians in its bombardment.

The school is close to a facility that had been used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards according to reports.

Shocking pictures from press agencies showed masses of graves being prepared for the funerals,

The UN has condemned the mass killing of children who had just started their school week when the bombing began.

UNESCO called for all sides to protect schools, students and teachers.

A statement said: "The killing of pupils in a place dedicated to learning constitutes a grave violation of the protection afforded to schools under international humanitarian law."

Funeral ceremonies were held yesterday for the bodies of some of the 168 victims of the Shajareh Tayyebeh (Taiba Tree) Girls' Elementary School in Minab, in Hormozgan province, southern Iran.