Missile Strike on Shahid Naimi Sports Hall, Lamerd

On Saturday, 9 Esfand 1404 (28 February 2026), US-Israeli strikes hit multiple locations in Lamerd, Fars Province, including a sports hall, a residential neighborhood, and a cultural center, killing at least 16 people initially and wounding over 100. Tabnak

According to Lamerd's governor Ali Alizadeh, four sites in the city were struck: a sports hall, two residential areas, and a hall adjacent to a school. Emergency response teams were dispatched to the area and all available resources were mobilized for rescue operations. Tabnak

The missile strike on the sports hall killed two girls, two teenage boys, and their trainer. An additional 16 civilian residents were killed in and around their homes and on the streets. Victims ranged in age from a two-year-old child to elderly individuals, and included a mother of three and people in their thirties. Tasnimnews

At the time of the strike, female students were attending a volleyball class and male students were in a football class at the Shahid Naimi Sports Hall. Among the dead was Mahmoud Najafi, a physical education teacher at Hazrat Zahra Primary School in the city. Khabarjonoub

Weapons analysts and journalists, after examining videos of the two strikes in Lamerd and post-strike imagery, determined that the characteristics of the weapon used — the type of explosions and the damage pattern — matched those of the US-made Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), a short-range ballistic missile. This weapon is designed to detonate above its target, scattering thousands of small tungsten pellets across the surrounding area. A US official confirmed to the New York Times that the weapon used in Lamerd was a PrSM. EuroNews

This was the first confirmed combat use of the PrSM missile. The weapon detonates above the target and disperses thousands of fragments across residential areas. At least 21 civilians were killed, including four children who were playing at the time of the strike. SNN

The sports hall bore the name of martyr Khalil Naimi and had no military function. According to the Director-General of Labor and Social Affairs of Fars Province, 23 victims of the Lamerd strike were officially designated as martyrs of the "Third Imposed War." SNN