Halabja

BRIEF OVERVIEW: Halabja is city and region in Iraqi Kurdistan that is reknown for its pomegranate production.

On March 16 1988 the Iraqi Airforce launched a deadly chemical attack of sarin and mustard gas on the Kurdish town of Halabja, killing 5000 civilians and injuring countless more. The devastating  repercussions of this event are longstanding, causing birth defects and abnormally high rates of cancer in the local population even today, 30 years later.

The Halabja region has been long-known for having good agricultural land, it's home to pomegranate groves and fields that grow many crops, but many believe that the land itself still contains toxic residue from the bombs.
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Jamal Fuad on Halabja from emma piper-burket on Vimeo.

Photos from Halabja Memorial

​EXTERNAL LINKS & RESOURCES:
Halabja Agricultural College : facebook
"Pomegranates, not oil, the star of Iraqi Kurdistan's rebirth," The National, October 4, 2014
"Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campaign against the Kurds," Human Rights Watch, 1993
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