37 years later: 1,000 Anfal victims found in Kirkuk mass grave

Shafaq News/ A mass grave containing the remains of around 1,000 Kurdish victims has been uncovered in the Sayadla area behind Kirkuk University, a genocide documentation activist revealed on Saturday.

Hayman Hasib, who works with groups investigating Anfal-era crimes, confirmed the site holds victims of Iraq’s late-1980s military campaign against Kurdish civilians. He identified the location as near a facility once used by Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," a key figure behind mass executions under the former regime.

Hasib also noted that regime-era records indicate the area functioned as a municipal cemetery for unidentified corpses, many believed to be Kurds. “This marks the first public identification of the site in Kirkuk,” he told Shafaq News Agency, highlighting that the discovery aligns with the 37th anniversary of the Anfal campaign.

A separate grave was located on Friday at the Tobzawa military camp in southern Kirkuk, according to a security source.

These sites add to the growing number of mass graves documented across Iraq since 2003, most linked to the Baathist regime’s repression of Kurds and Shiites.