al-Anfal Dead Returned to Families After 20 years

The words al-Anfal or Operation Anfal as it is also known may have little or no meaning to many of us, perhaps some of us have never heard about it. To the Kurdish people living in Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein it has great meaning; Just the mention of the word will evoke gruesome memories of the campaign of terror and genocide that was carried out against them between1987 and 1989 that culminated in 1988.

During Operation Anfal as many as 182,000 Kurds died and 5000 villages were destroyed. Civilians who were captured were taken to camps that in many ways were similar to Hitler's concentration camps; the most notorious of these was Topzawa. Men and teenage boys (any one believed to be capable of holding a weapon) were separated from there families. After a few days of living in severely overcrowded conditions and being subjected to random beatings they would be taken away for mass execution. Many women and children died as a result of starvation, exposure and willful neglect. 

In the village of Halabja alone around 5000 Kurds died as the result of a chemical attack carried out by Saddam's forces. The effects of the chemicals ware first felt by the animals and birds, then by the Kurds, stabbing pain in the eyes, uncontrollable vomiting, tremors, confusion soon followed by death. 

Four years ago 371 bodies were found in four mass graves near the cities of Mosul, Dohuk,Sulaimaniyah and Samawa. The bodies have since been positively identified and on January 14 a ceremony was held at the Sami al-Rahman park in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to commemorate there return. In a procession of coffins draped in the Kurdish flag, the remains were carried in and placed in rows. They were to be properly re-buried on Wednesday at a cemetery in Sulaimaniyah 

Kurdish president Massud Barzani spoke at the event saying: "This ceremony makes us feel pain but at the same time happiness because they are back in their fatherland," he went on to say "We want guarantees that these kinds of crimes will not target our people ever again." Iraq's Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister said "This is an important occasion because it confirms the legitimacy of Iraq's liberation, There may be some who doubt that but the bodies of these victims remind us that Iraq's liberation was legal." 

Ali Hassan al-Majid , Sultan Hashim al-Tai , Hussein Rashid al- Tikriti were all convicted and sentenced to death for there role in the attacks. They are currently awaiting an agreement between the various Iraqi politicians who have been unable to decide who should carry out the executions. 

Operation Anfal was only one of many mass casualty attacks carried out by Saddam Hussein's forces throughout the years he was in power. These attacks were part of Saddam's "ethnic cleansing" of Iraq. 

1980, Fayli villages 

Saddam's forces moved against the Fayli Kurds near the Iraq-Iran border. Security forces invaded there villages and took the Faylis from there homes. They were loaded into trucks and taken to detention centers were they separated the men and boys from the rest. The males were taken away and have not been seen since. The rest were held in detention centers. 

1982, Dujail (Shiite) 

Approximately 160 men and boys are killed and as many as 1500 people were taken away to detention centers following a failed assassination attempt carried out against Saddam. The attempt was made by a small group of villagers who were outraged over state–ordered assassinations of Shiite religious leaders. The retaliation was indiscriminate and targeted the entire village. 

1983, Arbil province. 

Saddam's troops surrounded villages occupied by the Barzanis (A Kurdish clan led by Masoud Barzani) They went house to house taking every male older than 10. As many as 8000 were taken and have never been seen since. Only 512 bodies have been recovered. Many more BArzanis along with other Kurds were sent to Nugra Salman, a prison located in the southern deserts where, many more would die of starvation, dehydration and torture. 

1991 Uprising in Iraq. 

Shortly after the U.S. entered into the first Gulf War President George H.W. Bush urged the people of Iraq to rise up against Saddam and overthrow him. Believing they had the support of the U.S. the Kurds in the North and the Shiites in the south staged an uprising in an effort to rid themselves of Saddam. The uprising gained momentum but the U.S. troops had been ordered to stop at the Kuwait-Iraq border and no support was given by the U.S. or allied forces. As a result, Saddam’s forces regrouped and began a ruthless campaign to put down the uprisings. Between 20,000 to 100,000 Kurds and 60,000 to 130,000 Shiites died as a result. 

This resulted in "operation safe haven", An operation designed to protect northern Iraq from persecution and provide humanitarian aid, eleven countries, including the United States participated in the operation