The BBC reported on Monday that Portsmouth City Council will meet on September 10 to explore the possibility of forming a friendship link with the city of Halabja in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. A report by the Portsmouth Council said this could benefit the town through educational partnerships, cultural exchange, community cohesion, civic engagement, and the strengthening of Portsmouth’s international relationships.

The report said that the link would honor Lady Adela, who hosted British soldiers in her own homes during and after World War I, saving them from execution when the Kurdish leader Mahmoud Barzanji revolted against the British.

As a result, the British government awarded her the prestigious title of Khan Bahadur, meaning Princess of the Brave.

The idea was first proposed in 2019 by Kurdish Home, a Portsmouth-based support organization, but the process was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Halabja Governor Nuxsha Nasih told Kurdistan Chronicle that she was aware of the news, but said that the link had not yet been formally established.

On March 16, 1988, the former Iraqi Ba’athist regime unleashed chemical gas over Halabja, resulting in the deaths of approximately 5,000 men, women, and children, and leaving more than 10,000 individuals wounded.

In 2024, the Kurdish House Portsmouth organized a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Halabja Genocide.

“We stand united against all forms of oppression, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity,” the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth said at the event.

A Halabja memorial was also established in Portsmouth’s Garden of Hope several years ago.

On March 17, 2025, the UK Parliament hosted an event to mark the 37th anniversary of the chemical attack on Halabja.