Photos Revealed as a Result of the American New Yorker Magazine Lawsuit
The American New Yorker magazine published the photographs, which had previously been hidden from the public, for the first time as a result of a lawsuit filed against the US army regarding the photographs. The magazine’s report details the tragic incident that took place after a vehicle carrying American soldiers was attacked in Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005. In this incident, US soldiers entered houses in the area and brutally murdered 24 innocent civilians.
Following the incident, a total of 24 civilians lost their lives within minutes, the youngest being 3-year-old Zeynep Yunus Salim and the oldest being a 76-year-old man. Soldiers numbered the bodies of those who died during this massacre and took their photographs. The New Yorker magazine, together with the families of those who lost their lives in the massacre, filed a lawsuit against the US military, demanding that these photographs, which had been hidden for years, be brought to light. After a four-year legal battle, the military was forced to provide the photographs to the magazine.
Shocking Photos
In one of the photographs published by the magazine, 5-year-old Zeynep Yunus Salim is seen shot in the head and the word “11” written on her back by US soldiers. In another frame, a woman identified as Ayda Yasin Ahmed lies in the same bed covered in blood with the bodies of her children. The names of the victims in this photograph are stated as Saba (10), Ayşe (3), Zeynep (5), Muhammed (8) and Ayda.
In another photo, the number “12” written on the cheek of 3-year-old Ayşe Yunus Salim by American soldiers after she was shot is visible. In another photo, a mother identified as Esma Selman Rasif is seen shot side by side with her 4-year-old son Abdullah. The note regarding this photo states that the mother’s left hand was on her son, that the little boy was shot in the head, and that the US soldier who fired the shot pulled the trigger from less than 2 meters away.
Another frame at the end of the news story shows the bodies of 5 civilians who were stopped and killed by US soldiers on their way to university. According to the magazine, the only person who survived the massacre was an 11-year-old child named Safa, who was hiding in a corner next to the bed.
Investigation and Results of the Incident
According to the investigation records regarding the massacre, one of the perpetrators, Corporal Stephen Tatum, investigators told that he noticed that the people in the room were women and children before he started shooting, and that he “continued to shoot at them even though he “They knew they were children.” In 2005, soldiers from the US Marine Corps massacred 24 innocent civilians in Haditha, Iraq, and the charges against four soldiers who were tried in connection with this incident were dropped. None of the soldiers who participated in the massacre were punished, and James Mattis, one of the commanders at the time and later the US Secretary of Defense, wrote a letter of praise to one of the perpetrators of the massacre, arguing that the soldiers involved were “innocent.”
