Chemical attack victims in Kurdistan Region to receive treatment abroad: KRG

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is sending 35 chemical attack victims from the Kurdistan Region abroad for inspection and treatment, a health directorate official announced on Sunday.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is sending 35 chemical attack victims from the Kurdistan Region abroad for inspection and treatment, a health directorate official announced on Sunday.

Azad Mustafa, Director-General of the Halabja Health Directorate, said 35 people “who have been affected by chemical attacks in the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil, Halabja, and Sulaimani governorate will be sent abroad to receive proper treatment.”

Mustafa explained that the KRG’s Victims of Chemical Attack Group had formed a committee to validate and register the victims of chemical attacks under the previous Ba’ath regime in Iraq.

He said the committee had selected 35 individuals from the three mentioned governorates to accompany 18 others who had already been sent abroad for treatment taking the total to 53 victims.

Within the framework of treating chemical attack victims, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani recently answered the call of a resident in Kurdistan for financial assistance to receive a lung transplant in Germany.

Kamil Abdulqader posted a request to Prime Minister Barzani on social media, asking the Kurdish leader to help fund the treatment he was unable to pay for.

On Sunday morning, Abdulqader provided an update on his exchange with Barzani. “I received a phone call from the Prime Minister’s office asking about my health and to let me know that they will pay me the 30,000 Euros needed for my treatment.”

Abdulqader has been receiving medical care for the past two years in Germany along with his family. The German Consul General had approved a medical visa for him and his family. His condition reached a critical point and he needed surgical treatment for a lung transplant.          

Kamil Abdulqader photographed in a hospital bed in Germany. (Photo: Kamil Abdulqader)
Kamil Abdulqader photographed in a hospital bed in Germany. (Photo: Kamil Abdulqader)

On March 16, 1988, Iraqi aircraft launched a chemical attack on the city of Halabja, killing some 5,000 people and injuring 10,000 more.

Abdulqader was the sole survivor in a family of nine members. However, he suffered critical injuries during the attack, which have affected his health.

Halabja is a Kurdish city located 215 kilometers southeast of Erbil, and 10 kilometers from Iran’s border. The town was officially recognized as the newest province in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq at the end of 2013.

The Iraqi High Criminal Court recognized the Halabja massacre as an act of genocide on March 1, 2010.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

(Additional reporting by Avin Atta)