Event

Simele massacre

1933 · 20th century

The Simele massacre was the killing of Assyrian villagers by the Iraqi army in northern Iraq in August 1933, centred on the town of Simele near Dohuk. It followed armed clashes with Assyrians seeking autonomy under their patriarch, and estimates of the dead range from several hundred to about 3,000. It was the first major crisis of independent Iraq and is a defining event in modern Assyrian memory.

Simele massacre
Image: No. 30 (B) Squadron, Royal Air Force · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Kingdom of Iraq

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Simele massacre. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/simele-massacre
MLA
“Simele massacre.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/simele-massacre. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Simele massacre.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/simele-massacre.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Simele massacre’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/simele-massacre (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻