ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the chemical bombing of Halabja. Halabja is a Kurdish district that belonged to the Sulaymaniyah governorate until February 2015 when it became a governorate itself. Neither Iraq nor its army, established in 1921, was interested in chemical weapons despite their extensive use during World War I and the consequent ban agreed to by Western countries in 1925. In 1968, the Ba'ath party's interest in chemical weapons spiralled upward for political reasons. A legal framework was created in order to ban chemical weapons internationally. The witness was a pilot officer Al-Bakir Air Base before his last position as the air defence commander. He gave his testimony regarding the aviation technical aspect and its uses. The investigation into the genocides committed against the Kurds has to be read against the events that started in June 2014 with the intervention of ISIS and the resurgence of a possible sectarian war in the country leading to its final division.
