The memorial was constructed between 2002 and 2003.[3] Opening just six months after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.[4] The site is used for annual commemorations, especially on March 16, when residents and officials gather to remember the victims.[5] Including people who lost family members the massacre.[6]
In March 2006, unrest broke out in Halabja during the 18th anniversary of the Halabja chemical attack. Some 2,000 angry protestors stormed the monument.[7] Angered by poor living conditions and lack of compensation for victims, they attacked and set fire to the Halabja memorial. Security forces opened fire as more demonstrators attempted to storm the site, resulting in the death of a protestor and injuries to several others.[8] Kurda Ahmed, 17, was hit in the abdomen by a police rifle bullet, said eyewitnesses, who also alleged that a member of the security forces shot him again in the side, firing a pistol at close range. Ahmed died in Halabja hospital. [9]
In 2025, the Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers approved 600 million Iraqi dinars (around 400,000 USD) to renovate and expand the Halabja Martyrs Monument. The project includes plans to update the existing structure, build an auditorium, and design a new monument on 47 dunams of land while preserving the site’s main features.[10]
