Kurdistan’s PM marks anniversary of Anfal campaigns with “Call for Justice”

Shafaq News/ On Sunday, Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the Anfal Campaigns aimed at the systematic annihilation of the entire Kurdish populace.

In a statement marking the 36th anniversary of the devastating Anfal campaigns orchestrated by the former Iraqi regime, PM Barzani said, "We must recall and honor the victims of Anfal, using their sacrifices as a profound lesson for our future generations."

“The Kurdistan Regional Government is steadfast in providing comprehensive support and services to the families of Anfal victims, striving to ensure their well-being and dignity.”

PM Barzani stressed the “moral and constitutional obligation of the federal government to fairly compensate these families and all those impacted by the Ba'athist regime's atrocities,” acknowledging their “enduring suffering and the need for redress.”

Expressing concern, Barzani lamented the “persistence of chauvinistic ideologies that mirror the mindset behind the Anfal campaigns, urging a “collective commitment to justice and reconciliation” and denouncing any attempts to deny or diminish the historical struggles and achievements of the Kurdish nation.

Kurds continue to bear the enduring scars of the oppressive policies inflicted upon them by the previous regime, with one of the most brutal and tragic being the Anfal Campaign.

The term "Anfal" encompasses a series of genocidal attacks orchestrated by Saddam Hussein and 'Chemical Ali' between February and September 1988, though it symbolizes the broader genocide endured by Kurds over decades.

Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children fell victim to the systematic campaign aimed at exterminating the Kurdish population in Iraq during the Anfal operations of the late 1980s.

They were mercilessly executed, often tied together and shot into mass graves. Entire towns and villages faced chemical attacks, and many women and children endured appalling conditions in camps.

Young men and boys were explicitly targeted and executed en masse.

According to the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Kurdish genocide traces back decades before Anfal, with numerous atrocities claiming countless lives.

"The genocide perpetrated over decades began with the Arabisation of villages around Kirkuk in 1963. It involved the deportation and disappearances of Faylee Kurds in the 1970s-80s, the murder of 8,000 male Barzanis in 1983, the use of chemical weapons in the late 1980s, most notably against Halabja, and finally, the Anfal campaign of 1988." KRG said.

The Anfal campaign in 1988 marked a pinnacle of horror, with hundreds of thousands perishing and families enduring profound suffering and health issues. Additionally, between 1976 and 1988, 4,500 villages were obliterated, devastating Iraqi Kurdistan's agricultural potential and erasing its rural heritage.

The magnitude of the Kurdish genocide is staggering, with an estimated one million people disappearing since the 1960s, presumed dead or missing. Human Rights Watch's 1993 report on Anfal estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Kurdish deaths, but subsequent accounts suggest the toll could exceed 182,000.