On the morning of June 14, 2025, a series of alleged Israeli drone strikes hit the village of Bujing by Asadabad in the Hamedan region of Iran. Two strikes resulted in the deaths of at least six civilians, including a truck driver, four firefighters, and a municipal worker, as well as the injury of five aid workers. Two members of the “defense forces” were also reportedly killed. As these strikes resulted in the death of those acting in an aid capacity and responding to earlier strikes, this incident has been recorded as a ‘double-tap’.

Location of the strikes

According to testimony from Amir Ghesmati, a firefighter who was injured in the attack, the two strikes recorded in this incident and which resulted in civilian harm followed two previous strikes on missile launchers and/or IRGC vehicles. According to @ManotoNews and Tasnim News, the strikes occurred on a dirt airstrip which previously belonged to the Asadabad Agricultural Airport but “had been converted into a site for training Basij forces and preparing military equipment.” According to the post shared by @ManotoNews, which included a video of the strike site, the site had been used to prepare missile launches.

Accounting for those injured and killed

In a statement released to Bartarinha news agency, Hamzeh Emraei, the Hamedan Governor’s Deputy Political and Security Officer, stated that seven people had been killed and seven injured while responding to an earlier strike. In the same statement, Mr. Emraei noted that all those killed were “from the relief and defense forces”. Earlier, in a comment to the same news agency, Mr. Emraei reported the death of two aid workers and the injury of five.

Reports shared by ISNA, Tasnim, and Tanin Hamedan matched Mr. Emraei’s account of seven people killed. According to ISNA, they included a truck driver, three firefighters, a municipality worker, and two policemen. One of the three firefighters was initially injured, but succumbed to his injuries in the week after the strikes.

Identifying those killed

Initially, six civilians were reportedly killed in the strike, and one firefighter, Zakaria Mahmoudi, was injured, as reported by Tasnim News Agency. On June 30, Zakaria succumbed to his injuries, joining two other firefighters, Mohammad Noori Nasab and Abbas Zarei, who had been killed in the incident. According to Amir Ghesmati, Abbas was killed while “the fresh bread his wife bought for breakfast was still in the back seat of the Pride.” Zakaria was buried on July 1. Also among the victims was a municipality worker, Mohsen Mirzaei.

In addition to the deaths of Zakaria, Mohammad, and Abbas, Amir Ghesmati said that the strikes killed a fourth firefighter, 37-year-old Yasser Zivari.

Also among the victims was a truck driver, Ali Hatefi Fard, who was a political activist and the head of the Asadabad Truck Drivers’ Association in Hamedan Province. He was reportedly a member of the Nedaye Iranian Party. According to Mashreq news, Mr. Fard, who also owned a crane, went to the area to provide aid and assistance to transport a damaged vehicle belonging to IRGC forces after an initial strike left the vehicle overturned. This is when the drone attacked for a third time, and Mr. Fard was killed.

The media outlet shared an image of the late Ali, who was a middle-aged man with short grey hair and a dark moustache, wearing a black leather jacket and gently smiling at a camera.

Two police officers, the chief of police, Habibullah Akbarian, and his deputy, Amir Hossein “Iman” Seifi, were also killed in the drone strike. Mr. Akbarian was the head of the public security police, responsible for helping to ensure public safety and security in Asadabad County. According to Iran News Agency on Twitter/X, the officers were killed during a reconnaissance and intelligence operation in the city when they were reportedly hit by advanced Israeli army drones. On Twitter/X, Simorgh_News shared an image of two men wearing light-green police uniforms and referring to them as ‘military personnel’.

Counting those harmed in this incident (Airwars methodology)

Airwars has recorded the minimum number of civilians killed in this incident as six. This quantification comes from the statement made by Mr. Emraei. While Emraei reported seven deaths, he noted that members of the defense forces were among those killed. Considering that Mr. Emraei’s report does not strictly refer to civilians, Airwars’ methodology quantifies the plural members of the defense forces as ‘two’, making the number of civilians reportedly killed five. However, as Airwars collected the names of six individuals believed to be civilians, the minimum number of civilians killed reflects the number of named individuals, in this case, six. As Airwars is considering the civilian status of Habibullah and Amir to be ‘contested’, the maximum number of civilians reportedly killed is recorded as eight. These quantifications will be updated should additional information become available.

Recording the number of belligerents reportedly killed, noted above, Emraei’s statement refered to the killing of members of the “defense forces”, which Airwars quantifies as two. As such, the number of belligerents reportedly killed in this incident has been recorded as a range of 2-2, with the understanding that Habibullah and Amir may or may not be the members of the “defense forces” reportedly killed.

Contested civilian status

The statement made by Hamzeh Emraei to Bartarinha news agency described Habibullah and Amir as ‘policemen’ who were responding to previous strikes. In this description, Habibullah and Amir would be recorded as civilians. However, considering the post shared by Simorgh_News, referring to the two men as ‘military personnel’, their civilian status has been recorded as ‘contested’. This will be updated should additional information become available.

Survivor Testimony

Accounting the morning of the incident, Amir Ghesmati told journalist Leila Bagheri how two earlier strikes – at 6:30 and 7:30 respectively – resulted in a fire. He reported that a military vehicle or trailer had been hit on a road that was surrounded by wheat fields. These early strikes resulted in fires which threatened to spread through the fields, so Amir, Abbas, and Yasser were among those who responded to help.

After putting out the fires, Amir said that he, Abbas, and Yasser were given a small breakfast and brought water to a soldier who was on site. The three were getting water when “the drones attacked again and hit the third truck, causing an explosion about 50 meters below Marakh.” Remembering those killed, Amir said – “They killed three or four of the guys from other groups… a soldier, the crane operator who had come to move the vehicles, the one who had asked us for water, and others.”

Reviewing other reports of those killed from the day, it seems that Amir may be referring to Amir Hussein and Habibullah Akbarian as the ‘soldiers’, but it’s not clear. Additionally, it would seem that Amir is was referring to Ali Hatefi Fard when describing ‘the crane operator’.

‘A few seconds later’, reported Amir, he, Yasser, and Abbas were hit by another Israeli missile. Amir survived. Unfortunately, Abbas Zarei died on the spot, whilst Yasser Zivari succumbed to his injuries on June 22.

Describing the strike in which he was injured, Amir said: “A few seconds later, a missile hit three of us. I was unconscious for 10 minutes. When I regained consciousness, I tried to get up to see how the others were. A terrible thing had happened; we were inside the wheat fields, Yasser and Abbas were down, and the fire was reaching them. I was dizzy, I couldn’t get up, my legs were covered in blood, but I didn’t feel any pain, my ears were ringing, and I couldn’t hear anything. I crawled to the road. When I reached the asphalt, I pointed to the rescue forces. The drone was flying, and no one knew exactly what was happening. They saw us and came to help and took us to the hospital.”

According to @ZeinabHeidari2 on Twitter/X, Yasser Zivari was a firefighter, volunteer rescuer with IRCS, and basketball player. The account posted an image of late Yasser where he is seen smiling in a paramedic uniform.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) mourned his death along with other staff and volunteers of the IRCS killed in Iran.

News agencies, like Hamshahri Online Purson and.aparat.com, posted various videos and pictures documenting the incident and illustrating the scale of the alleged Israeli attacks, showing large clouds of smoke billowing in the skies. Some of the media alleged that the Israeli military attacked ballistic missile launch pads in Asadabad and the Nojeh hunting base. According to @ManotoNews on Twitter/X, the missile launch pads were destroyed as a result of the attack.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.