Second Phase of Campaign for Identifying Anfal Victims Kicks Off in Chamchamal

PUKMEDIA

DNA testing sample Kurdistan flag in the back.

On Sunday, 16 February 2025, the specialised national team from the Forensic Medicine Department in Baghdad and the Iraqi Martyrs Foundation's Department of Mass Graves Affairs and Protection, in collaboration with the Office of the Iraqi First Lady and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), has begun the second phase of the national campaign to gather information and blood samples from the families of the Anfal victims in the Chamchamal district, Sulaymaniyah Governorate.

"In the first phase, specialised teams collected information and blood samples from Anfal victims' relatives in four stages across the districts of Kalar, Chamchamal, and Koya," Pari Nouri Aziz, Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, told PUKMEDIA.

The teams include Baghdad's Forensic Medicine Department, the Iraqi Martyrs Foundation, and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), according to Aziz.

She further revealed that the second phase of the national campaign to collect blood samples and information from the families of martyrs and Anfal victims will last five days in Chamchamal district, noting that the goal of this initiative is to build a centralised database for families of martyrs and Anfal victims.

As for the process, Aziz explained: "The First Lady is the one supporting and assisting specialised teams in completing their task as swiftly as possible, while the Iraqi federal government is responsible for carrying out the DNA in compliance with the law."

Iraqi first lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed persists in her efforts to return the remains of mass grave victims to their relatives and families.

“Our work continues with unwavering commitment to return the remains of all Anfal victims to their rightful places and to uncover any remaining mass graves. This is not just a duty – it is a moral imperative,” she previously stated.

Iraq's fallen Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath dictatorial regime launched the Anfal campaign in February 1988, targeting Kurdish civilians and lasting until September of that year. It is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous cases of state-sponsored mass murder during Iraq's Ba'ath regime. 

The military and regular forces, including the First Corps in Kirkuk and the Fifth Corps in Erbil, as well as the Air Force, Special Forces, Republican Guard, Commando Forces, security and intelligence services, military intelligence, and chemical and biological weapons departments, were all mobilized to carry out these operations. The Anfal atrocities killed over 182,000 Kurdish civilians, including women, children, and the elderly.

According to statistics, 270 mass graves have been discovered since Iraq's liberation, with many more still to be found. The majority of these graves are concentrated in the area between Diwaniyah, Samawah, and Najaf provinces. 



PUKMEDIA