Eyewitness account of chemical attacks on Kurdish areas during 1987-1988

During 1987-1988 I was working as a medical doctor in the rural areas in Qaradagh area south of Sulaimaniyah, Iraq. I witnessed several chemical attacks on civilians and treated hundreds of patients during this period. I was also mildly injured with blistering gases when the hospital was attacked.  I have also witnessed the Anfal operations of Qaradagh and Garmyan during March and April 1988.

• 21/4/1987: Fighter plane attacks with blistering gases on several villages Zewamar, Darizyain, Jafaran . Tens of civilians injured
• 21/4/1988: shelling of Mount Qalaqimaz with blistering gas, one person injured
• 27/2/1988: Fighter plane attacks with blistering gases on the hospital, and several villages such as Takia, Baklakjar, Gumata, Balkha. Hospital staff and hundreds of civilians and fighters injured, one died
• 22/3/1988: shelling of Sewsenan and Dukan villages using Nerve gas gas. Over 70 died and hundreds injured
• 23/3/1988: Shelling of Balakjar with nerve gas. 1 person died
• 25/3/2016 evacuation of the hospital and relocation to Qopy Mountains.
• All villagers left their homes towards Sulaimani leaving everything behind. Most of them managed to enter safety but a number of them were taken by regime forces to unkwnon destinations.
• 30/3/1988 regime enters Qaradagh district and destroys the town
• 31/3/1988 retreat to Garmyan area.
• April 1988: Hundreds of villages in Garmyan were now helpless at the middle of regime forces. The villagers were extremely nervous, the area was surrounded by Saddam’s forces from all sides and had no safe place to go. Regime forces started attacking the area from East (Darbandikhan), south (Duz) and west (Chamchamal). The Peshmarga forces resisted for a few days but the attacks were relentless; it was clear the regime had decided to end everything once forever, the resistance as well as the civilian populations. On Aprim 14^th, the Peshmerga forces started retreating back to Qopy Mountains and then left the area altogether towards the Iranian border. The civilians has no choice but to surrender to regime forces. They left their villages and moved towards towns controlled by regime forces but vast majority of them never reached there. They were intercepted by the regime forces and taken into unknown destinations.

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