Activist accuses organizations of inflating the numbers of Halabja's chemical attack victims

Shafaq News/ The head of Halabja's Chemical Attack Victims' Association, Luqman Abdul-Qader, on Wednesday accused organizations he did not name of inflating data to harvest donations.

Abdul-Qader's remarks came in a press conference he held on the anniversary of the chemical attack's victims earlier today.

"We have 25 victims who need corneal transplantation," he said, "the huge numbers some organizations are promoting are unfounded. The purpose of the persons or organizations promoting these numbers is increasing their own wealth."

Luqman said that Halabja houses 321 victims from a total of 835 residing in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

"This number is not an issue for the Kurdistan Regional Government. Of course, only a few need corneal transplants," he continued, "if the region's government did not take care of this issue, nobody will."