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November 30 marks International Day of Remembrance for Victims of Chemical Warfare. One of the most notable attacks using chemical weapons is the Halabja Massacre, which occurred on March 16, 1988. Iraqi forces utilized numerous chemical weapons to decimate Halabja, a city that is home to a majority population of Kurdish citizens.听To date, the attack is the largest chemical attack against a civilian-populated region in history, and the massacre was officially classified as a crime against humanity in 2010 after being formally condemned by the Canadian Parliament.

Barzani Scholar-in-Residence and Director of the Global Kurdish Initiative for Peace Yerevan Saeed is a Halabja native and survived the chemical attack. Saeed lost many family members and friends in the attack, and as a four-time refugee, he knows firsthand how brutal the impact of a chemical attack can be. To better understand the Halabja Massacre and chemical attacks, we asked Saeed some questions.

Can you give us a brief background on the events that led up to the chemical attack on March 16, 1988? Why were the Kurds being targeted?

The Halabja chemical attack occurred during the final months of the Iran-Iraq War. In March 1988, Iran launched a ground offensive that temporarily captured the city of Halabja and its surrounding areas. The Iraqi regime perceived this Iranian advance as a significant threat to its northern frontier and accused the Kurdish insurgent groups of collaborating with Iran against Baghdad.

Using this justification, the regime unleashed a chemical attack on Halabja, employing mustard gas and nerve agents such as sarin and VX. The assault claimed the lives of approximately 5,000 civilians, including women and children, and injured over 10,000 others. Simultaneously, Iraq was conducting the Anfal Campaign鈥揳 genocidal military operation targeting Kurdish communities. The campaign involved the mass killing of Kurds, the destruction of over 4,000 villages, and the widespread use of chemical weapons, resulting in the deaths of more than 180,000 Kurdish civilians.

The Kurdish population was specifically targeted because of their ethnic identity and longstanding resistance to the Iraqi government. They sought to preserve their language, culture, and autonomy within Iraq鈥攁spirations that were met with systematic repression and violence by the regime.

What chemical weapons were used in the attack, and what was the immediate impact on the community?

The Iraqi government deployed chemical weapons, including mustard gas and nerve agents such as sarin and VX, against the civilian population of Halabja. This horrific assault resulted in the immediate deaths of approximately 5,000 individuals, many of whom suffocated within minutes. The chemical agents inflicted severe injuries on survivors, causing burns, blindness, and long-term neurological damage, with some individuals suffering mental trauma and loss of sanity.

Decades later, hundreds of survivors continue to endure chronic respiratory illnesses and other debilitating health conditions linked to the exposure. Compounding this tragedy, numerous families lost children during the attack, many of whom remain unaccounted for to this day, leaving a painful legacy of grief and unanswered questions, especially the unanswered 鈥渨hy鈥� question.

How did the Kurdish community in Halabja respond following the attack, and how did it rebuild after losing so much?

Following the chemical attack, Halabja was completely abandoned and declared a military zone by the Iraqi government. Survivors fled to Iran, where they were provided shelter and protection. After the Iran-Iraq ceasefire, the Iraqi government announced an amnesty for the displaced population, promising that they could return to Halabja. However, upon crossing back into Iraqi territory, returnees were loaded into military trucks and transported to distant regions of Iraq. There, they were abandoned in barren plains without food, water, or shelter, surrounded by Iraqi military forces.

Some families managed to escape these de facto concentration camps and find refuge with relatives. Still, many were forcibly relocated to tightly controlled settlements under constant surveillance by the Iraqi government. Following the 1991 Kurdish uprising, the people of Halabja began to return to their hometown, only to discover that the Iraqi military had dynamited the entire town. Not a single house remained intact, and the city was reduced to rubble. Even the natural environment bore the scars of the attack, with many trees dried up due to the lingering effects of chemical agents.

Despite these overwhelming challenges, the people of Halabja chose to rebuild. They cleared the ruins, reopened schools, established clinics, and gradually restored essential services, laying the foundation for a new beginning in the face of immense hardship.

How did the attack impact the region and the relationship between the Kurds and the Iraqi government?

The chemical attack on Halabja caused an irreversible breach of trust between the Kurdish population and the Iraqi government, fostering a deep-seated perception among Kurds that the Iraqi state poses an existential threat to their survival. Compounding this mistrust is the Iraqi government鈥檚 persistent unwillingness to offer reparations or meaningful justice to the victims of Halabja.

This failure has further eroded the legitimacy of the post-2003 Iraqi state, which was ostensibly built on principles of inclusivity and a break from the oppressive practices of Saddam Hussein鈥檚 regime. Therefore, the legacy of Halabja continues to cast a long shadow over efforts to build a unified and reconciled Iraq.

Did the Halabja attack impact or influence any of the restrictions and limitations we see today in International Law surrounding chemical weapons/warfare?

While discussions about banning chemical weapons predated Halabja, the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons in Halabja had a significant impact on international law, the global stance, and awareness of chemical weapons, spurring stronger legal frameworks and international efforts to address the use of such weapons. Thus, the attack galvanized international support for the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which bans the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons.

This highlighted the need for independent mechanisms to monitor and verify compliance with chemical weapons treaties. As a result, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in 1997, which oversees CWC enforcement, was established. The CWC entered into force in 1997 with 193 countries as signatories to the convention to destroy existing stockpiles.

The attack also contributed to growing support for prosecuting war crimes involving chemical weapons. Today, such acts are considered serious violations of international humanitarian law under the Geneva Conventions and customary international law.