Iranian photographer documented Halabja for the world to see
Sasan Muayadi of Iran, the first of many photographers to arrive in Halabja shortly after Saddam Hussein dropped chemical weapons on the city, recounts his story in the first few days following the brutal attack.
“I stayed in Halabja for 48 hours,” Muayadi told Rudaw. “I took photos in every alley in Halabja. “I couldn’t help with anything,” he continued. “There were only dead bodies of martyrs lying in front of me. I couldn’t do anything.”
Muayadi, who had small children of his own at the time, said one of the most painful memories he had of those first few days in Halabja following the attack was seeing the bodies of dead children.
On March 16, 1988, when the former Iraqi regime dropped a deadly cocktail of mustard gas, cyanide, and sarin in an attempt to eradicate the Kurdish resistance, 5,000 people died and another 10,000 were injured, many of them and their children still suffering the effects of the attack today.
