Missile Strike in Residential Areas and at a Sports Hall, Lamerd

On February 28, 2026, the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, multiple U.S. strikes hit Lamerd, a city in Fars Province in southern Iran. The strikes affected at least three locations: the Shahid Naimi Sports Hall, the Shahrak Isar residential neighborhood, and the Tal-e Khandagh residential neighborhood. Airwars identified three separate explosions across approximately 550 meters, while the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs later described the attack as involving four PrSM missiles.

The Shahid Naimi Sports Hall was in use by a women's volleyball team when the attack occurred. The strike killed civilians inside and around the facility, including three teenage girls who were playing volleyball. Airwars and AP also documented civilian deaths in the surrounding residential areas. Among them was Avina Barzegar, a two-year-old girl, who was killed while playing in the yard of her home in Tal-e Khandagh. Airwars estimated that the pellet that killed her travelled approximately 50 meters from the estimated point of detonation.

The weapon identification is particularly significant. Airwars' analysis of videos, photographs, satellite imagery and eyewitness testimony found a distinctive pattern of thousands of small impact marks across buildings, streets and vehicles rather than the large crater normally associated with a conventional missile impact. The pattern is consistent with the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which is designed to detonate approximately 15–20 meters above the ground and disperse tens of thousands of tungsten pellets in all directions. Airwars estimated a damage radius of at least 170 meters in one of the Lamerd strikes, while civilians were killed at distances of at least 50 meters from the estimated detonation point.

AP independently reviewed Airwars' geolocation and damage analysis and found the evidence consistent with PrSM strikes. Six weapons experts consulted by AP, including two former military officials, said they believed PrSMs had struck Lamerd and considered the use of Iranian or Israeli weapons unlikely. AP also found no reports indicating that military or security personnel were killed in the strikes or that military infrastructure was hit. An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound is located nearby, but satellite imagery reviewed by AP showed no damage to the compound.

The casualty figures developed over time. On the evening of February 28, IRNA reported that more than 15 civilians had been killed in attacks on four areas of Lamerd, including a sports hall, two residential locations, and a hall adjacent to a school, and warned that the number would rise. The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs later reported 24 people killed, including a two-year-old child, several teenage volleyball players, and women and men, with more than 130 injured. Airwars' later investigation established at least 21 civilian deaths, including seven children and two women, and estimated that as many as 170 people were injured.