A Photo Report On:
The Chemical Massacre in Halabja
by Iranian Photographers
Index of photographs and the names of photographers:
6- (Top) Iranian forces enter Halabja (Ahmad Nateqi)
(Bottom) Halabja before the chemical bombings (Saeed Jan-Bozorgl)
9- (Top) Halabja before the chemical bombings (Mahdi Jamshidi)
(Bottom) Halabja before the chemical bombings (Saeed Sadeqi)
12- Operational region near Halabja (All Fereiduni)
14-Anti-chemical units decontaminating operational region near Halabja after the Chemical attacks. (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
16- Bombing of Halabja (Gholamerza Shir-Mohammad-Pur)
18, 19- victims of the chemical attack on Halabja (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
20- Victims of the chemical attack on Halabja (Saeed Sadeqi)
21- victims of the chemical attack on Halabja (Sasan Moayyedi)
22- victims of the chemical attack on Halabja (Saeed Sadeqi)
24- Victims of the chemical attack on Halabja (Ahmad Nateqi)
25- Victims of the chemical attack on Halabja (Yadollah Cheraghi)
26- Victims of the chemical attack on Halabja (Ahmad Nateqi)
27- Victims of the chemical attack on Halabja (Ahmad Banakashani)
28, 29- Victims of the chemical attack on Halabja (Parviz Pajouhanda)
30- Victims of the chemical bombing trying to escape Halabja town (Saeed Sadeqi)
32- Chemically-contaminated clothes and equipment In Halabja (Ahmad Nateqi)
34- A victim of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Yadollah Cheraghi)
35- Members of a family who were participating In the funeral ceremony of two of their relatives, also fell victims to the chemical attack (Ahmad Banakashani)
36- A victim of the chemical attacks on Halabja (Parviz Pajouhanda)
38- Bombardment of Halabja suburbs (All Fereiduni)
40- 'I won't leave my dad behind' (Ahmad Nateqi)
41- A victim of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Yadollah Cheraghi)
42- Survivors of Halabja (All Fereiduni)
44, 45- Survivors of Halabja (Ahmad Nateqi)
46, 47- Survivors of Halabja (Saeed Sadeqi)
48- Bombardment of Halabja suburbs (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
49- Survivors of Halabja (All Fereiduni)
50- Rescue operations for survivors and Injured of Halabja by Iranian forces (Saeed Sadeqi)
54, 55. 56- Two Halabja children rescued by Iranian reporters (Saeed Sadeqi)
58- A sanatorium In Tehran for the injured of Halabja (Gholamreza Masudi)
59- An injured victim of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Saeed Sadeqi)
60- Injured victims of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Jassem Ghazbanpur)
61- An Injured victim of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Sasan Moayyedl)
62- An Injured victim of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Ghoiamreza Masudi)
63- An Injured victim of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Seifollah Taheri)
64, 65- An Injured victim of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Jassem Ghazbanpur)
72- Foreign reporters inspect Halabja (Majid Karimian)
74- Victims of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Mahdi Jamshidi)
75- Foreign reporters Inspect Halabja (Majid Karimian)
76- Victims of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Saeed Jan-bozorgi)
77- Foreign reporters Inspect Halabja (Majid Karimian)
78- Victims of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Sasan Moayyedi)
79- Victims of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
80- Victims of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Mahdi Jamshidi)
82- Livestock killed by the chemical bombing at Halabja (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
83- Livestock killed by the chemical bombing at Halabja (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
84- Chemical victims who sought shelter In nearby rivers and springs to save themselves (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
85- Chemical victims who sought shelter in nearby rivers and springs to save themselves (Sasan Moayyedi)
86- Chemical victims who sought shelter In nearby rivers and springs to save themselves (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
87- Dead in the act of trying to escape the town (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
88- Victims of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Saeed Jan-Bozorgi)
90- Foreign reporters visit the Injured of the chemical bombing of Halabja (Abasalt Bayat)
91- Burial of chemical victims in Halabja cemetery (Ehsan Rajabi)
94, 95- 'Physicians without frontiers' visit Halabja chemical victims hospitalised in Tehran's Labbafi-Nejad hospital (Jassem Ghazbanpur)
96- An injured victim of the chemical bombing of Halabja-Tehran (Mahmoud Morowati)
97- A member of U.N. probe team visits victims of the chemical bombing of Haiabja (Majid Karimian)
98- A camp in western Iran for survivors of Halabja (Mahdi Jamshidi)
100, 101- A camp In western Iran for survivors of Halabja (Jassem Ghazbanpur)
103- A camp in western Iran for survivors of Halabja (Mahdi Jamshidi)
The Kurdish-populated town of Halabja, which once had a thriving population of 70,000 is located in Iraq's Sulaimaniya province, some 260 kms northeast of Baghdad. The Darbandikhan lake and Its dam which supply electric power to the Iraqi capital are a few kilometers west of the town. Towards the east a bare 16 Kms lies the Iran-Iraq border, and the Halabja region forms part of an arable and green tract in largely rugged Kurdistan. A thick forest belt covers much of its vicinity and Halabja residents are mostly farmers while some others are engaged In husbandry In the rich pastures which provide excellent fodder for their sheep and cattle.
Iranian troops gained full control of the Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq's Sulaimaniya province in major military operations code-named ‘Val-fajr-10' in March, 1988.
Since a great number of the 70,000 Kurdish people of Halabja who have a long record of struggle against Iraq's central government, did not abandon their homes and instead went about their daily work alongside Iranian forces, the Iraqi air force carried out an extensive chemical bombing of the town and its nearby villages which lasted 48 hours. As a result 5,000 of the innocent people of Halabja lost their lives and over 7,000 more were maimed. Thus, March 17 and 18, 1988 earned an eternal place in the 'dark pages' of human history.
Inhabitants of Halabja are the only people being so ruthlessly massacred by their own forces in a war between two countries. The corpses of thousands of women, children and men lying here and there In the city streets and inside homes, remind one of the 'Sabra and Chatila' Palestinian refugee camps and evoke memories of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
The green environment in Halabja turned bleak as waves of Iraqi warplanes in their attacks used 'Hydrogen cyanide' gases which suffocate and kill man in less than a minute. They also extensively deployed 'mustard' and 'nerve' gases.
The following snaps of Halabja taken by Iranian photographers depict scenes from a crime which even Hitler did not commit.
IRAN PHOTO FOUNDATION
A Photo Report On:
The Chemical Massacre in Halabja
Iran Photo Foundation
A Photo Report On:
The Chemical Massacre in Halabja
by Iranian Photographers
1988
