IRAQ: A sit-in on the 34th anniversary of Halabja Massacre

ANKAWA, Iraq — On the 34th anniversary of the chemical attack by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on the Iraqi city of Halabja, the mayor of Ankawa organized a public commemoration.

More than 5,000 people, most of them women and children, were killed and 10,000 were injured in the Halabja Massacre.

The commemoration began in front of Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph in Ankawa, with the church bells ringing for five minutes. The event was attended by Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil Mor Bashara Matti Warda, Archbishop of Diana and Kerkeslokh (Kirkuk) of the Assyrian Church of the East Abris Youkhna, Syriac-Catholic Archbishop of Hadiyab and Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Nathanael Nizar Ajam, and mayor of Ankawa Ramy Noori, among many others.

Representatives from Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian political parties, Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian representatives in the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), officials of government and security departments in Ankawa, students, and members of civil society organizations.