CPTnet
26 March 2011
IRAQ REFLECTION: "I want everyone to hear this story"--anniversary of chemical gas attack on Halabja

by Janelle Thiessen

March 16 was the anniversary of Saddam Hussein ordering the chemical bombing of Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan, which killed more than 5000 people.

Kaka A. was the driver for our CPT delegation last year.  We had gradually become like an extension of his family.  So, when we visited Halabja, his home, he would not accept payment for that portion of our journey together.  While we were there, visiting the Halabja memorial to the thousands of people who died in the 1988 chemical attack, Kaka A. shared his story with us.

  Kaka A.'s father died when he was very young and his mother was the sole-caregiver for him and his siblings.  In 1974, when he was twelve, Kaka A. was playing with his friends when the first planes came

"First the airplane tested the area, they didn't bomb," he said.  The airplanes that followed dropped napalm bombs.  "I stayed with my family inside the room.  We escaped from the city with only my mother to supervise us."  They stayed in the mountains for a time and then returned to the city.
 
In 1988, Iranian soldiers came to liberate Halabja from the Iraqi regime, defeating the Iraqi army.  Everyone expected retaliation for this action.  "Both armies were bad for us," said Kaka A.  A short time later napalm bombs started raining down on Halabja.  The government closed the roads to hinder escape, so Kaka A.'s family stayed and went into their basement.  "Our house was completely destroyed, but the basement stayed whole," he told us.

His family lived only because one of two bombs that landed on their house did not explode.  When they saw the unexploded bomb, they fled.  A truck picked them up and took them towards the mountains.  However, when they saw a plane, they were afraid and fled from the truck into the trees.  Some men in their group decided to return to Halabja to get food, clothing, and shoes.  As they approached, they saw people running and were told that there had been a chemical gas attack.  One man told them, "Don't go back; I lost my whole family."  They joined the fleeing crowd and found a ride on a truck with sixty other people.  "It tipped over and fell into a valley,” said Kaka A. “People were trapped under it, including my brother, whose arm was caught…He said to me, ‘bring me a knife, I will cut off my hand.’”  Around midnight, people came to help and freed his brother, but he lost his arm.  "We went to Iran, but we reached the border without shoes.  Sometimes things were so bad that my mother and family could not take care of each other."  His brother was taken to the hospital, and they were unable to find him for four months.  "We stayed there in bad conditions until we could find my brother."
 
Kaka A. concluded his story by saying, "I want everyone to hear this story, since many people deny this happened."