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Kurdistan
A statue depicting a Kurdish father holding his baby, both killed in the 1988 Halabja chemical attack, in Halabja on March 13, 2021. Photo: Safin Hamed/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Thirty-three years since the chemical attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja, Iraq’s president has called the attack “a deep wound” that embodies the suffering of the Kurdish people.
“We recall the heinous crime that the dictatorship committed against its peaceful people, against Iraqis and humanity,” President Barham Salih tweeted on Monday. “Redressing the victims, rebuilding and joining hands to prevent the return of tyranny is the greatest respect for our martyrs.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi condemned the tragedy, saying the attack shows what is possible “in the name of hatred and racism.”
"The bitterness of that tragedy continues to warn us to this day of what a weapon of mass destruction can wreak when it falls in the hands of a tyrant... and what can be committed in the name of hatred and racism when the brutal regime used it to justify its dark act of injustice, terror and ugliness," his office tweeted.
"Today we carry the pain of the memory of the victims in our hearts, but our consolation is that it is a pain that reminds us, like the rest of the crimes of the era of tyranny, the price of freedom, the value of survival and the moving of Iraq into the era of democracy and the high value of the Iraqi people."
The French and Turkish consulates have also issued statements on the anniversary, with the latter saying the attack was a "black mark" in history.
Around 5,000 people, majority women and children, were killed when the former regime of Saddam Hussein dropped mustard gas onto the city of Halabja on March 16, 1988. The event, which was recognized as an act of genocide by Iraq's High Court in 2010, has left a permanent scar in the historical memory of the Kurdish people.
Many survivors suffered long-term health problems as a result of the attack, which was part of a longer genocidal campaign against Iraq’s Kurds by the Baathist regime.
"There are still 486 people who are seriously ill from the chemical attack in Halabja," Loqman Abdelqader, president of an association for victims of the attack, told AFP.
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has also spoken out on the attack.
“March 16 is the 33rd anniversary of the chemical carnage in #Halabja -- Some care not to remember—those in the west who provided Saddam with the deadly chemicals,” he wrote.
Many survivors seek medical treatment in Iran, which lies just a few miles away.
Although the town is mainly associated with the chemical attack, authorities are working to improve the town and its economy.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani announced on Tuesday that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has allocated 30 billion dinars for development projects in Halabja “to build infrastructure, create jobs and boost the local economy.”
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