Halabja massacre — massacre against the Kurdish people that took place in Halabja, Iraq on March 16, 1988
The largest chemical weapons attack against civilians in history, killing up to 5,000 Kurdish residents of Halabja, Iraq in March 1988.
Key Facts
- Date
- 16 March 1988
- Deaths
- 3,200–5,000 people
- Injured
- 7,000–10,000 people
- Agents used
- Mustard gas, tabun, sarin, VX
- Perpetrator convicted
- Ali Hassan al-Majid, executed January 2010
- Legal classification
- Genocidal massacre (Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal, 2010)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the Iran–Iraq War, Iranian forces captured Halabja on 14 March 1988 as part of Operation Zafar 7. The Iraqi government, conducting the broader Anfal campaign against Kurdish populations under Ali Hassan al-Majid, sought to retake the city and suppress pro-Iranian Kurdish fighters, using chemical weapons as an instrument of that offensive.
On 16 March 1988, Iraqi aircraft and artillery deployed a mixture of chemical agents—including mustard gas, tabun, sarin, and VX—over the civilian-populated city of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan. The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people and injured thousands more, constituting the largest chemical weapons attack ever directed against a civilian area.
A United Nations investigation confirmed the use of mustard gas and nerve agents against civilians. Ali Hassan al-Majid was tried, convicted, and executed in 2010. The Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal classified the attack as genocide, and Canada's Parliament condemned it as a crime against humanity. Long-term health effects, including elevated cancer rates and birth defects, were documented in the affected population.