Nisour Square Massacre

Date: September 16, 2007 • Location: Green Zone, Iraq

Seventeen Iraqi civilians were shot and killed by Academi guards in Baghdad.

The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting, which was a private military company contracted by the United States government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy. The killings outraged Iraqis and strained relations between Iraq and the United States. In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried and convicted in U.S. federal court; one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges. In 2020, all four convicted were pardoned by President Donald Trump. United Nations experts said the pardons "violate U.S. obligations under international law and more broadly undermine humanitarian law and human rights at a global level".