Iraq’s parliament on Monday voted to formally recognize Halabja as the country’s 19th province, ending years of political delays and granting full administrative status to a region long associated with one of the most harrowing atrocities of the Saddam Hussein era.

The measure passed with broad backing from Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni parties during a session of the Council of Representatives attended by 178 lawmakers. The long-delayed legislation was the first item on Monday’s six-point agenda.

Second Deputy Speaker Shakhawan Abdullah said the decision carried both legal and symbolic weight. “What happened today is a legal and moral obligation,” he told reporters following the session. “Everyone knows that the fall of the tyrant began with the use of weapons of mass destruction in Halabja.”

On March 16, 1988, an estimated 5,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in a chemical weapons attack on Halabja, with thousands more injured or displaced. The attack remains one of the most notorious crimes committed by the former Baathist regime and a lasting symbol of Kurdish suffering.

Efforts to grant Halabja full provincial status date back to 2013, when the Council of Ministers first endorsed the move. The Kurdistan Regional Government unilaterally declared Halabja its fourth province in 2014, and the Interior Ministry recognized the decision in 2018. However, federal ratification had remained elusive amid political disputes between Baghdad and Erbil.

“This is the least that can be done for what Halabja has endured,” Abdullah said, while thanking those who supported the bill and criticizing the absence of certain lawmakers. “Their absence was regrettable.”

The new province will include the district of Halabja and the towns of Khurmal, Byara, Sirwan, and Bamo. It shares an 18-kilometer border with Iran, including official crossings at Shushmi-Tawela and Pshta.