Residents of the Iraqi town of Halabja have marked the 25th anniversary of the gassing of thousands of Kurds by Saddam Hussein.
People carrying pictures of relatives killed in the attack observed a minute’s silence at 11:35 a.m., the time in 1988 when Iraqi jets began spraying the town with chemical nerve agents.
The attack was meant to target Kurdish rebels supporting Iran in its eight-year war with Iraq.
But three-quarters of the victims were women and children, making it one of the worst gas attacks on civilians in history.
The organizer of the attack, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known by the nickname "Chemical Ali," was hanged in 2010 following the fall of the Hussein regime.
The U.S. National Security Council called for efforts "to prevent future atrocities."
People carrying pictures of relatives killed in the attack observed a minute’s silence at 11:35 a.m., the time in 1988 when Iraqi jets began spraying the town with chemical nerve agents.
The attack was meant to target Kurdish rebels supporting Iran in its eight-year war with Iraq.
But three-quarters of the victims were women and children, making it one of the worst gas attacks on civilians in history.
The organizer of the attack, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known by the nickname "Chemical Ali," was hanged in 2010 following the fall of the Hussein regime.
The U.S. National Security Council called for efforts "to prevent future atrocities."
