Iraqi government approves Halabja’s status as province

Halabja Monument, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2020. Photo: SM

BAGHDAD,— Halabja was officially approved as the 19th province of Iraq by the Iraqi Council of Ministers on Monday and has been referred to parliament for a final decision.

“To commemorate the anniversary of the tragedy of Halabja, the Council of Ministers has passed a bill to create the province of Halabja in the Republic of Iraq,” according to a statement from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s office. The statement further stated that the bill was forwarded to the parliament “to provide justice for this city and in tribute to its martyrs.”

During a press conference, Halabja Governor Azad Tofiq lauded Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and the Council of Ministers for their decision and extended an invitation to the premier to visit Halabja on the anniversary of the chemical attack.

He stated that the Iraqi government’s decision to elevate Halabja to provincial status is a significant and important development and emphasized the need for prompt implementation of the decision, stating that Halabja is worthy of being recognized as a province.

Additionally, Tofiq urged the Iraqi government to provide compensation to the victims of the chemical attack that occurred in Halabja.

In June 2013, the Kurdistan Council of Ministers made a decision to transform Halabja into a province, thereby becoming the fourth province in Kurdistan Region. In December 2013, Iraqi Council of Ministers accepted Kurdistan’s demand and converts Halabja to province. In March 2014, Iraqi Kurdistan government announces Halabja as its fourth province.

In February 2015, Iraqi Kurdistan’s parliament approved the establishment of Halabja province in a special meeting on Thursday.

According to reports, on March 16, 1988, the former regime bombed the city of Halabja with chemical weapons, resulting in the death of over 5,000 Iraqi Kurds and the injury of around 7,000 to 10,000, primarily civilians. In the years that followed, thousands of residents of the town lost their lives due to health complications, diseases, and birth defects caused by the attack. However, many observers and some locals accuse Iran of being responsible for the bombing, and Iraq has maintained its innocence in the matter. After the US invasion of Iraq, no chemical weapons were discovered.

More people killed in Kurdish civil war than in Halabja

During the 1994-1997 Kurdish civil war, Barzani and his rival Jalal Talabani rounded up and executed approximately 3,000 Kurds with whom they had political disagreements. Barzani and Talabani, like Saddam before them, simply dumped these Kurdish victims into mass graves; to date, they refuse to tell family members where their loved ones are buried, and they arrest any journalist or academic who raises the issue. Alas, in Iraqi Kurdistan, it seems that Saddam was not the last dictator, nor was Halabja the last massacre, Michael Rubin said in 2011.

The (Brother’s War, Brother-Killing) aka Bra Kuji war broke out in 1994 between Barzani clan‘s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and continued till 1998 when the two parties made a peace agreement in Washington.

Between 5,000 and 8,000 fighters and civilians were killed throughout more than 3 years of warfare.