Of all the atrocities committed against the Kurds during the Saddam’s rule, Halabja has come to symbolize the worst of the repression against the Iraqi Kurds. Halabja was a town of 70,000 people located about 8-10 miles from the Iranian border.
In March 1988, the town and the surrounding district were unmercifully attacked with bombs, artillery fire, and chemicals. The chemical weapons included mustard gas and the nerve agents sarin, tabun, and VX. At least 5,000 people died immediately as a result of the chemical attack and it is estimated that 7,000-10,000 were injured.
This video was shot by the first reporters to enter Halabja after the attacks.
(Warning on content)
Chemical Ali was executed today in Iraq. He was notorious in the 1980s and 1990s for his role in the Iraqi government’s campaigns against internal opposition forces, namely the ethnic Kurdish rebels of the north, and the Shia religious dissidents of the south. He was responsible for the mass killings of Kurds at Halabja.
Reuters reported:
Iraq on Monday executed Ali Hassan al-Majeed, the Saddam Hussein henchman widely known as “Chemical Ali,” for crimes against humanity, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
“The death sentence against Ali Hassan al-Majeed has been carried out,” Dabbagh said.