Kurdistan Region will have national holiday for 19th anniversary of Ba'ath regime's fall

Two years after the regime's removal, the country held its first democratic elections.

Kurdistan 24 2022/04/08 16:34

A US Army soldier witnesses the toppling of ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad's Firdos Square, Apr. 9, 2003. (Photo: Jerome Delay/AP)

Kurdistan Iraq War Saddam Hussein Anfal Campaign Halabja Chemical Attack

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced that Saturday, Apr. 9, will be a national holiday since it marks the fall of the former regime of Saddam Hussein 19 years ago.

Iraq and Kurdistan Region both observe Apr. 9 as a national holiday for celebrating the end of a regime that committed numerous atrocities against the Iraqi people and the Kurds throughout its decades-long rule.

On Apr. 9, 2003, the Iraqi capital Baghdad fell to the US-led coalition, marking the end of the Saddam Hussein regime.

Two years after the regime's removal, the country held its first democratic elections.

During Saddam's reign, he committed numerous atrocities against Iraq's Shiites and the Kurds. His regime killed 5,000 Kurds in a single day when he gassed Halabja on Mar. 16, 1988. The Anfal campaign he waged against the Kurds during the same period killed 182,000 people, including women and children.

His regime also displaced thousands of Kurds and resettled Arabs on their land in a process known as Arabization.