Another Halabja chemical attack survivor dies
HALABJA, Kurdistan Region – A survivor of the Halabja chemical attack has died after years of suffering from the effects of the gas attack.
“On March 10, 2018, another person injured by the Halabja chemical attack, Layla Habibulah, died,” Luqman Abdulqadir, head of the Halabja Chemical Attack Victims Group, told Rudaw.
Her death “brings the number of people dying from the injuries they sustained due to the chemical weapons used against Halabja to 104. We started recording these numbers in 2003,” he explained.
On March 16, 1988, some 5,000 Kurds were killed in a chemical weapon attack on Halabja, carried out under Saddam Hussein’s rule. Another 10,000 were injured. Many are still suffering the effects of the attack today.
Since 2015, none of the injured have been sent abroad for treatment, according to Abdulqadir.
“In the past, the ministry of martyrs funded the referral of people affected by chemical weapons abroad for treatment. This task was assigned to the ministry of health a year ago. But unfortunately, it’s now been a year that not even a paracetamol tablet has been given to people affected by Halabja chemical attack,” he said.
The Kurdistan Region has been in a financial crisis for over three years.
“On March 10, 2018, another person injured by the Halabja chemical attack, Layla Habibulah, died,” Luqman Abdulqadir, head of the Halabja Chemical Attack Victims Group, told Rudaw.
Her death “brings the number of people dying from the injuries they sustained due to the chemical weapons used against Halabja to 104. We started recording these numbers in 2003,” he explained.
On March 16, 1988, some 5,000 Kurds were killed in a chemical weapon attack on Halabja, carried out under Saddam Hussein’s rule. Another 10,000 were injured. Many are still suffering the effects of the attack today.
Since 2015, none of the injured have been sent abroad for treatment, according to Abdulqadir.
“In the past, the ministry of martyrs funded the referral of people affected by chemical weapons abroad for treatment. This task was assigned to the ministry of health a year ago. But unfortunately, it’s now been a year that not even a paracetamol tablet has been given to people affected by Halabja chemical attack,” he said.
The Kurdistan Region has been in a financial crisis for over three years.