By Sameer Ibrahim
March 16, 1988 remains a traumatic date for the Kurds of northern Iraq, one that continues to haunt their collective memory. On this day in the middle of spring, when the flowers were blooming and the air was calm, the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein attacked the Kurdish city of Halabja with chemical weapons (another spelling in German is Halabdscha). The toxins used in the air raid included mustard gas and cyanide. The streets were littered with the bodies of families trying to flee. The attack killed more than 5,000 people, most of them women and children, within minutes, while about 10,000 people suffered severe burns and permanent disfigurement.
Agonizing death on the streets
Survivors reported that the released gas smelled like sweet apples and that victims died in different ways, suggesting the use of a chemical toxin mixture. Some dropped dead immediately, others died of laughter, while others experienced severe burns and skin rashes before losing their lives. Some suffered violent coughing fits and vomited green liquid before dying, while others went blind. Researchers say that the chemicals not only passed down through generations through the water and soil, but also led to an increased number of genetic abnormalities in newborns in the city.
The effects of chemical weapons were not limited to humans, but also affected animals. Goats and cows developed swollen bellies, tipped over on their sides and died with stiff, splayed limbs.
I myself visited the city of Halabja in 2008 to produce a report for an Arabic-language Kurdish TV station. After hearing the harrowing accounts of survivors who had been disfigured by the chemical attack, I felt as if I could smell the scent of apples around me.
Ethnic cleansing through Operation Anfal
The poison gas attack on Halabja was part of a military operation against the Kurdish population in their own country, as the Iraqi regime saw the Kurds as a threat to its rule. The operation became known as “Anfal” – named after the eighth sura of the Quran, which means “spoils of war” and deals with the division of the spoils after the historic Battle of Badr in the second year of the Hijrah, the emigration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
This campaign was part of the ongoing conflict between the Iraqi government and the Kurds, who were seeking autonomy. The operation, which had the aim of “ethnic cleansing,” led to the destruction of more than 4,000 Kurdish villages and the displacement of their inhabitants. In addition, mass executions were carried out, with the victims buried in mass graves. Tens of thousands of Kurds were brought to internment camps, where they were forced to live in inhumane conditions. According to estimates, approximately 180,000 people, including women and children, fell victim to the Anfal campaign.
Ali Hassan al-Majid, a leading member of the Baath Party and cousin of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, was considered the main person responsible for the Halabja massacre and became known as “Chemical Ali” because of his role in the chemical attack. He was sentenced to death after the fall of the regime.
German companies supplied infrastructure for the production of poison gas
Germany is also responsible for the poison gas attack on Halabja. As early as 1988, evidence was mounting that Iraq had purchased a large proportion of both the chemicals and the infrastructure needed to develop chemical weapons from Western – mainly German – companies. Many of the chemical or industrial components supplied by German companies that were used to build one of the largest chemical weapons plants in the world in the Iraqi cities of Samarra and Fallujah bypassed the intended export review. The accused German companies argued that the equipment and substances supplied were to be used to produce pesticides to protect the Iraqi date harvest. The company representatives involved were only brought to trial for violating the Foreign Trade Act, and not for aiding and abetting genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. A Dutch businessman who was also involved was convicted in the Netherlands for his complicity in war crimes.
On April 5, 1991, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 688, which imposed a no-fly zone over Iraq. This decision had far-reaching consequences and ultimately led to the creation of the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan in Iraq.
More than 37 years after this catastrophe, the Anfal campaign and the Halabja massacre are still an open wound in the collective memory of the Kurds – a symbol of resistance and determination.
More detailed information can be found in a documentation by the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr at Death in the Air. The Poison Gas Attack on Halabja on March 16th 1988
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