March 16 marks the 31st year after the Iraqi Baath regime’s chemical attack against the Kurdish city of Halabja in northern Iraq that killed thousands of people during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s.

Halabja was the scene of one of the most notorious crimes against humanity.

On March 16, 1988 Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein ordered his air force to attack Halabja with chemical bombs, using nerve agents such as VX and mustard gas.

Streets were strewn with dead bodies of women and children. Many perished by water streams as they tried to wash the deadly gas off their faces.

The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people and injured 7,000 to 10,000 more, most of them civilians.

Preliminary results from surveys of the affected region showed an increased rate of cancer incidence and birth defects in the years after the attack.

The Halabja attack was part of the Al-Anfal Campaign in northern Iraq. The attack has been recognized as a distinct event of genocide conducted against the Kurdish people by the Saddam regime. The Iraqi High Criminal Court recognized the Halabja massacre as an act of genocide on March 1, 2010.

(Source: Tasnim)