Operation Provide Comfort - Wikipedia

Today in American Military History -- 1991
Iraq: US begins relief air drops to Kurds in the north.

The 1991 uprising in northern Iraq resulted in an Iraqi military response towards the rebels in both northern and southern Iraq. Fearing a massacre like what had happened during the 1988 Anfal campaign, millions of Kurds fled towards the Turkish border. On 5 April, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 688, calling on Iraq to end repression of its population. On 6 April, Operation Provide Comfort began to bring humanitarian relief to the Kurds. A no-fly zone was established by the U.S., the UK, and France north of the 36th parallel, as part of the Iraqi no-fly zones. This was enforced by American, British, and French aircraft. Included in this effort was the delivery of humanitarian relief and military protection of the Kurds by a small Allied (U.S./UK/Fr/Tu) ground force based in Turkey.