Prime Minister Masrour Barzani; Anfal Did Not Stop Kurdish Struggle for Freedom

As the people of Kurdistan commemorate the 8,000 Barzani victims of Anfal Campaign, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani reminded that the genocidal attack did not end the Kurdish struggle for freedom.

On 31 July 1983, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered his army to round up 8,000 Barzanis from different districts of Kurdistan Region. The innocent people were later massacred and put in mass graves across the southern deserts of Iraq.

“The genocide against Barzanis was the beginning of a racist campaign by the Baath regime against the people of Kurdistan, which was followed by the Anfal campaigns in Garmiyan and Badinan areas as well as the chemical attack on Halabja,” the Kurdish PM wrote in a statement.

However, Barzani noted, the crimes against the people of Kurdistan did not end their “spirit for resistance”, but it rather empowered the Kurds to make remarkable achievements, including the establishment of Kurdistan Region as a political entity.

PM Barzani stated that his cabinet works to pressure Baghdad to compensate the survivors of Anfal and victims’ families.