The earthquake struck 31 kilometres outside the Iraqi city of Halabja.
At the beginning of the 20th century, there were many British soldiers stationed in Halabja.
Halabja has a long history,
as proven by excavations at nearby archaeological sites like Bakr Awa.
The Kurdish peshmerga guerrillas, supported by Iran, liberated Halabja in the final phase of the Iran-Iraq War.
Halabja is surrounded by Hawraman and Shnrwe range in the northeast,
Balambo range in the south and Sirwan river in the west.
In March 2010, the Iraqi High Criminal Court recognized the Halabja massacre as genocide; the decision
was welcomed by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The attack on Halabja took place amidst the infamous Anfal campaign,
in which Saddam Hussein violently suppressed Kurdish revolts during the Iran-Iraq War.
On June 28, 1987, Iraqi aircraft delivered what was believed to be mustard gas in an attack against Kurdish people in Halabja and Sardasht.
Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas
and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people.