Iraqi PM commemorates 36th anniversary of Halabja tragedy
Shafaq News / The Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani remembered the 36th anniversary of the Halabja genocide on Saturday.
PM Al-Sudani stated on X, "We painfully remember this crime and its victims, which confirms to generations the brutality of the former regime and its crimes against the Kurdish people and other spectra of the Iraqi population."
He added, "This tragedy will remain present in our conscience, urging us to do more to strengthen our democratic system."
The Prime Minister affirmed that "government efforts will continue to ensure justice for our people who have suffered injustice, and to implement laws that support their rights."
On March 16, 1988, Iraqi aircraft flew over Halabja for five hours and dropped a mixture of mustard gas, sarin, and nerve gas. The bombing resulted in five thousand victims, most of whom were women and children, and thousands of wounded.
In January 2010, Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed "Chemical Ali" and a cousin of President Saddam Hussein, was sentenced to death and executed for his responsibility for this massacre.
The chemical attack on Halabja occurred in the final days of the Iran-Iraq war, which lasted for eight years.
The attack was the largest chemical attack targeting civilian populations of one ethnicity (the Kurds), aligning with the description of genocide in international law, which must be directed against a group or ethnicity with the intent of revenge or punishment.
