March 16th

On this day - March 16th 1988 - The largest chemical attack against a civil population in history

The Halabja chemical attack, or Halabja massacre, was an genocidal attack against the Kurdish people in the last days of the Iran-Iraq War. Between 3200 and 5000 people were killed instantly, while many more died of complications from the chemicals in the years that followed. Most of the injured and killed in this attack were civilians, and the attack is the largest chemical attack against a civil population ever. The attack started in the evening of March 16th when Iraq's army started dropping chemical bombs on the residential area of Halabja city in Kurdistan. It is believed that the chemical dropped were of different types, including Mustard gass and nerve agents and the attack lasted for five hours. Saddam Hussein blamed Iran for the attack, but it has later been proved that it most likely was Saddam Hussein who was behind the attack.