Message from the President Jalal Talabani Foundation on the 38th Anniversary of the Crime of Bombing the City of Halabja with Chemical Weapons
2026-03-15
Dear Families of Martyrs and Chemical Weapons Victims...
Beloved People of Kurdistan...
Thirty-eight years have passed since the crime of genocide committed against the city of Halabja on March 16, 1988, when the former Iraqi regime bombed it with chemical weapons, leading to the martyrdom of five thousand (5,000) civilian citizens, including women, the elderly, and children, and injuring more than ten thousand people, some of whom still groan today from the pain of their unhealed wounds and their lingering effects.
What this martyred city was subjected to is a crime condemned by all humanity.
On the anniversary of this heinous crime committed against the dear, martyred city of Halabja, we recall with great sadness and sorrow that immense catastrophe perpetrated against the Kurdish people.
The bombing of Halabja with chemical weapons was an extension of the series of crimes committed by the fascist Ba'ath regime with the aim of exterminating the people of Kurdistan. The bombing of Halabja came within those attacks initiated by the Ba'ath regime in Iraq against the Kurdish areas as part of the Anfal Campaigns, and included operations to displace the inhabitants of Kurdish villages to forced camps established by the government near cities.
The time has come to move away from slogans and take practical steps to rebuild the city, provide more services, compensate the victims, and treat their wounds.
Until now, the effects and adverse repercussions of this crime remain upon the city's residents and its land. Halabja, for us, is a symbol of pride, sacrifice, redemption, and the oppression of our people.
We express our solidarity and share in the grief of the families of the martyrs and victims of chemical weapons. Immortality and honor to the pure souls of the martyrs of Halabja and all the martyrs who fell on the path to the freedom of the Kurdish people...
Ambassador Dr. Muhammad Sabir
President of the President Jalal Talabani Foundation
March 16, 2026