Barzani approves converting Halabja to a province

The source told “Shafaq News", that “ Barzani has signed today in conjunction with Halabja bombing with chemical weapons to turn to Halabja to a province officially”.

KRG has initiated measures to convert Halabja in Sulaimaniyah province to a province, after receiving a direct order from the region's president , Massoud Barzani .

It is known that Halabja is a district affiliated to Sulaymaniyah province, and if it became a province of Iraq , it will be the province number 19 instead of 18 and will be included in Kurdistan Region’s four provinces, in addition to the Halabja ; there are all of Sulaymaniyah , Erbil and Dohuk .

The former regime had bombed in 16 of March 1988 Halabja city with chemical weapons , killing more than 5,500 Iraqi Kurds and wounded 7000-10000 mostly civilians, thousands of residents of the town had been killed in the following year due to health complications , diseases and birth defects .