July 12, 2007, Baghdad airstrike

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July 12, 2007, Baghdad airstrike
Part of the Iraq War
An AH-64 Apache helicopter, the type used in the attack
Type	Airstrike
Location	New Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
Date	July 12, 2007
Executed by	United States Army
Casualties	12–18+[1][2][3][4][5] killed 2 children injured

On July 12, 2007, a series of air-to-ground attacks were conducted by a team of two U.S. AH-64 Apache helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah, New Baghdad, during the Iraqi insurgency which followed the invasion of Iraq. On April 5, 2010, the attacks received worldwide coverage and controversy following the release of 39 minutes of classified gunsight footage by WikiLeaks.^[6] The video, which WikiLeaks titled Collateral Murder,^[7][8] showed the crew firing on a group of people and killing several of them, including two Reuters journalists, and then laughing at some of the casualties, all of whom were civilians.^[15] An anonymous U.S. military official confirmed the authenticity of the footage,^[16] which provoked global discussion on the legality and morality of the attacks.

In the first strike, the crews of two Apaches directed 30 mm cannon fire at a group of ten Iraqi men.^[17][18][19] Among the group were two Iraqi war correspondents working for Reuters, Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. Seven men (including Noor-Eldeen) were killed during this first strike; Chmagh, who was injured, died in the second strike.

The second strike, also using 30 mm rounds, was directed at a van whose driver, Saleh Matasher Tomal, drove by and helped the wounded Chmagh. Both Chmagh and Tomal were killed in the second strike, and two of Tomal's children were badly wounded.

In a third strike, Apache pilots watched people, including some armed men, run into a building and attacked the building with several AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.