Halabja chemical attack
A chemical attack by Iraqi forces on the Kurdish town of Halabja on 16 March 1988, killing thousands of civilians and injuring many more.
Chemical warfare: The use of toxic chemicals to injure or kill people, or to deny areas to them, in warfare. Iraqi forces used chemical weapons against Halabja’s civilian population.
Iran–Iraq War: A war between Iran and Iraq fought from 1980 to 1988. Halabja was attacked during the war, as Iranian forces and Kurdish fighters advanced nearby.
Halabja massacre: The mass killing of civilians in Halabja by Iraqi forces in March 1988, principally through chemical weapons. This name foregrounds the civilian mass killing associated with the chemical attack.
Human Rights Watch: An international nongovernmental organization that investigates and reports on human-rights abuses. Its 1990 report documented Iraq’s chemical attacks and the broader Anfal campaign.
Mustard gas: A blister agent that damages skin, eyes, and respiratory tissue after exposure. Survivors reported blistering injuries consistent with mustard agent exposure.
Iraqi chemical weapons program: Iraq’s state program for producing and deploying chemical weapons, expanded during the Iran–Iraq War. The program supplied the weapons used against Halabja.
Chemical weapons convention: An international treaty prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons. Halabja became a prominent example of the human costs that chemical-weapons prohibition seeks to prevent.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 612: A 1988 resolution condemning the use of chemical weapons in the Iran–Iraq War and calling for compliance with international law. It followed international investigations of chemical-weapons use during the war, including at Halabja.
Sarin: A highly toxic nerve agent that disrupts normal signaling between nerves and muscles. Sarin was among the agents identified in accounts of the attack.
Anfal campaign: A 1987–1988 Iraqi military campaign that targeted Kurdish communities in northern Iraq. The attack occurred during Iraq’s wider campaign of violence against Kurds.