Destruction of Jedha City

The destruction of Jedha City, also referred to as the destruction of the holy city, or as the massacre at Jedha, occurred during the reign of the Galactic Empire when the Empire, in an effort to test the superlaser of the Death Star, used the battle station to destroy the holy city of the moon Jedha. Operating on a single reactor for the superlaser's power, the Empire evacuated the Imperial occupation force before moving the Death Star into orbit, targeting the holy city, and destroying it. The blast caused not only an enormous explosion but also significant damage to the moon, throwing fire, smoke, and dirt into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. On the ground, the shockwave caused Jedha's surface to begin peeling back, destroying everything that it touched. The Empire subsequently fabricated a cover story for the Imperial Senate that Jedha was destroyed in a mining disaster.

By the time of the Cold War, some dismissed the destruction of the city as mere Imperial propaganda capitalizing on the "actual" mining accident.

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