As Chemical Attack Anniversary Nears, Halabja Demands More Services

Agencies

The supreme committee's press conference.

In an eight-point demand letter, the supreme committee that is in charge of commemorating the 37th anniversary of the chemical bombardment of Halabja city urged the Kurdistan Region's three presidencies to increase services for the relatives of the victims as the anniversary draws near.

The supreme committee's spokesperson said during a press conference on Tuesday, 11 March 2025: "The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) should take serious steps to serve the families of martyrs, those injured by chemical weapons, children, missing persons, survivors and those affected by that crime in Halabja and its environs."

"The best services should be given to the Halabja Governorate, taking into consideration the degree of its sacrifices while allocating service projects," the committee said.

The committee also urged the KRG to pressure the Iraqi government to compensate the families of martyrs and those impacted by the crime, recognise the crime as genocide, allocate a special budget for the governorate's reconstruction, and hold businesses and companies that supplied the chemical gas to the defunct Ba'ath regime.
 
The committee also demanded that the Kurdistan Region Presidency use its international and regional relations to define the chemical bombing of Halabja as genocide, the Kurdistan Parliament pass a law defining the chemical bombing of Halabja as genocide, the Kurdish parties in the Iraqi parliament unite their efforts to pass a bill that recognises Halabja as a province, and the KRG provide a special budget to treat those injured and affected by chemical weapons.

On 16 March 1988, the fallen Iraqi Ba'ath regime bombed the city of Halabja with banned chemical weapons, martyring over 5000 innocent Kurdish civilians, including women, children, and the elderly. The attack also injured more than 10,000 others, most of whom still suffer from their wounds to this day.



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