1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait immensely in the evacuation efforts of fellow Indians. The invasion of Kuwait started on August 2, 1990, and within two days of combat, most of the Kuwaiti armed forces were either overrun by the Iraqi Republican Guard or fell back to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The Emirate of Kuwait was annexed, and Saddam Hussein announced a few days later that it was the 19th province of Iraq. More than 171,000 Indians were stranded on Kuwaiti soil. Initial efforts were made by the government of India to evacuate nationals by military aircraft. However, due to difficulties in air-space clearances the switch
Ba'athist Iraq the Iraqi government to focus on Iraqi Kurdistan which had revolted. Saddam appointed his cousin Ali Hasan al-Majid as military chief in Kurdistan. al-Majid initiated the al-Anfal campaign; chemical weapons were used against civilians. In April 1988, after a series of Iraqi military victories, a ceasefire was agreed between Iraq and Iran; the war is commonly considered "status quo ante bellum". In the aftermath of the Iran–Iraq War, Kuwait intentionally increased the country's oil output; this led to an international price decrease in oil. Saddam reacted by threatening to invade Kuwait if it continued to increase its oil output (which