Following Operation Valfajr 10 (Dawn 10) in which Iran managed to conquer parts of Iraq 15 March 1988, the Iraqi people fed up with Saddam's tyranny welcomed the Iranian victory.
Saddam appointed his cousin Ali, better known as “the Chemical Ali”, as the commander of the operation to hit the area of Halabja with chemical weapons.
About 5,000 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 7-10 thousand were injured. Years later, hundreds of others suffered and some died due to the genetic problems caused by the toxic materials of the bombs.
The attack was officially known as "genocide" of the Iraqis and the biggest direct attack on a residential area.
But how did Saddam gained the audacity to attack his own people with chemical weapons?
On June 28, 1987, Iraq bombarded four crowded points of Sardasht, western Iran, killing 119 innocent civilians and exposing more than 8,000 others to toxic gases that were provided by Western countries. The attacks maimed the Iranian civilians for life.
The assault was very catastrophic and caused innumerable problems. Sardasht was the first city attacked with chemical ones.
After the bombs hit the city, not knowing anything about unconventional bombs, many Iranian people rushed to help their injured fellow countrymen, many of whom were still under the debris, which contaminated more people with chemical materials.
Many of them were taken to the hospitals of Tehran, Tabriz, and Orumiyeh.
Effects of chemical and toxic materials remained with many of the injured people, especially children for years. Still, after about 33 years, many residents of the city are suffering from complications caused by the chemicals and are struggling for their lives.
The silence of the international community against the Iraqi Baath regime's crimes in Iran’s Sardasht green-lighted their attack on Halabja, which claimed the lives of at least 5,000 people and leaving some 7-10 thousand injured ones.
Translated by: Hossein Abolqassemi
Edited by: Safar Sarabi
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