The Halabja massacre, also known as the Halabja chemical attack, was a massacre of Kurdish people that took place on 16 March 1988, during the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict in the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War in Halabja, Kurdistan, Iraq. The attack was part of the Al-Anfal Campaign in Kurdistan, as well as part of the Iraqi Army's attempt to repel the Iranian Operation Zafar 7. It took place 48 hours after the capture of the town by the Iranian Army. A United Nations (UN) medical investigation concluded that mustard gas was used in the attack, along with unidentified nerve agents.
The following is a timeline of major events during the Iraq War, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), is an Iranian dissident organization that was previously armed but has now transitioned primarily into a political advocacy group. Its headquarters are currently in Albania. The group's ideology is rooted in "Islam with revolutionary Marxism," but after the Iranian Revolution became about overthrowing the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and installing its own government. At one point the MEK was Iran's "largest and most active armed dissident group," and it is still sometimes presented by Western political backers as a major Iranian opposition group, but it is also deeply unpopular today within Iran, largely due to its siding with Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War.
Maryam Rajavi is an Iranian dissident politician and the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), an organization advocating the overthrow of the Iranian government, and president-elect of its National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). She is married to Massoud Rajavi, who is the co-leader of MEK.
The 1991 Iraqi uprisings were ethnic and religious uprisings against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq that were led by Shi'ites and Kurds. The uprisings lasted from March to April 1991 after a ceasefire following the end of the Gulf War. The mostly uncoordinated insurgency was fueled by the perception that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had become vulnerable to regime change. This perception of weakness was largely the result of the outcome of the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War, both of which occurred within a single decade and devastated the population and economy of Iraq.
Camp Ashraf or Ashraf City was a camp in Iraq's Diyala Governorate, having the character of a small city with all basic infrastructure, and headquarters of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The population used to be around 3,400 in 2012, but in 2013 nearly all were relocated to Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport after pressure by then-prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's office.
Al Khalis District, Khalis or Al Khales is one of the six districts of Diyala Governorate in Iraq. Its main population center is the village of the same name. The village of Al Khalis is roughly 15 kilometers (9 mi) north of Baqubah.
The Iran–PJAK conflict is an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), which began in 2004. The group has carried out numerous attacks in the Kurdistan Province of Iran and provinces of Western Iran. PJAK is closely affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the primary opponent of the Republic of Turkey in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. PJAK has been designated as a terrorist organization by Iran, Japan, Turkey, and the United States.
Camp Liberty is a former installation of the United States Department of Defense in Baghdad, Iraq. The installation was used from 2012 to September 2016 to house members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, who had been forcibly evicted from Camp Ashraf.
Events in the year 2011 in Iraq.
Martin Kobler is a German former career diplomat who served as German Ambassador to Egypt, Iraq and Pakistan. He served as Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of United Nations Support Mission in Libya from November 4, 2015 to June 22 of 2017. Previously, he had served as Special Representative and Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) from June 2013 to 2015. In this capacity, he headed more than 20,000 peacekeepers in the country.
The Battle of Tremseh was a military confrontation between the Syrian Army and the Free Syrian Army in Tremseh, Syria, in the late hours of 12 July 2012 during the Syrian Civil War leading to the reported death of dozens of rebels, and an unknown number of civilians. On 14 July 2012, the UN observer mission issued a statement, based on the investigation by its team that went to the town, that the Syrian military mainly targeted the homes of rebels and activists, in what the BBC said was a contradiction of the initial opposition claims of a civilian massacre. They said that the number of casualties was unclear and added that they intend to return to the town to continue their investigation.
Abdolreza Rajabi was a Kurdish Iranian, born in Mahidasht District, west of the Kermanshah Province. He died under suspicious circumstances in Reja'i Shahr Prison where he was being held as a political prisoner. His was one of at least seven deaths in custody in as many years that has raised questions about the state of human rights in Iran.
The 2013 Camp Ashraf massacre was a suspected terrorist attack on the Camp Ashraf refugee camp of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), leaving 52 PMOI members dead and 7 missing. Iraqi security forces were believed to be responsible for the assault, with guidance and support from the Iranian government.
The siege of Amirli was a siege of the predominantly Shi'ite Turkmen town of Amirli in Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the War in Iraq. The town was besieged by ISIL forces from June 2014, lacking access to food, electricity, and water. Most of the residents are Shia Turkmen, who had organized local self-defense militias to fight against ISIL. On August 31, the Iraqi military reportedly broke the siege and entered the town. It has been described as "Iraq's biggest victory against ISIS", as of September 2014.
On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched an intervention in Yemen following a new joint request from Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi for military support after his forces were ousted from Sanaʽa by Houthi insurgents during the Yemeni Civil War. Government forces, Houthi rebels, and other armed groups fought after the draft constitution and power-sharing arrangements collapsed, despite progress made by the UN during the political transition at that time. Violence escalated in mid-2014. Houthis and allied insurgents seized control of Sana'a in September 2014 and thereafter. In response, President Hadi asked Saudi Arabia to intervene against the Iranian-backed Houthis.
Colonel Paul R. Shaffer (1930–1975) was a United States military aide to Iran who served as an air force pilot in both Korea and Vietnam. In 1975, he was assassinated along with Lieutenant Colonel Jack H. Turner. Vahid Afrakhteh, a founding member of Peykar, confessed to the killing and later was executed. Nevertheless, some sources have said the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) was responsible.
On 28 June 2021, President Biden directed airstrikes against Iran-backed militia groups close to the Syria-Iraq border. F-15E and F-16 aircraft were used to launch the attack in what the U.S. described as a retaliatory attack against U.S. facilities and personnel in Iraq by militia groups. Two operational and weapons storage facilities were targeted in Syria, the U.S. military revealed in a statement. Despite the U.S. not disclosing the information regarding the casualties in the attack, the SOHR stated that at least nine Iran-backed Iraqi militia fighters died, leaving many others injured. Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran in a statement named four members of the Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction they said were killed in the attack on the Syria-Iraq border.
The Moura massacre was carried out by Malian Armed Forces and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group between 27 and 31 March 2022, in the central Malian town of Moura, Mopti Region in conflict with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin. Over 300 civilians are alleged to have been killed according to US-based Human Rights Watch.
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