ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Kurdish leaders on Friday commemorated the anniversary of the 1974 bombardment of Qaladze by Iraq’s former regime, paying tribute to the victims and condemning the attack as a crime against civilians.

President Masoud Barzani said the April 24, 1974 attack, which killed and wounded hundreds of innocent civilians, was “a clear indication of the chauvinist and brutal policies of the former Iraqi regime against the civilian citizens of Kurdistan.”

The Baathist regime carried out airstrikes using napalm on the Kurdish town amid a lengthy campaign of state-directed repression, with the casualties including a host of Sulaimani University students and faculty.

Masoud Barzani described the bombardment as “another painful crime in a chain of crimes committed by that regime against our people.”

“On the anniversary of that great crime, we send our greetings to the martyrs of that tragedy and all martyrs of Kurdistan,” he said in a statement.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also marked the anniversary, saying, “We honor the memory of the martyrs of Qaladze and all of Kurdistan.”

“We will never forget their sacrifice,” he wrote on X.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said highlighted the plethora of students, teachers, and civilians who were killed or wounded in the attack.

He said targeting the university as a center of learning and Qaladze as a center of patriotism was a failed attempt by the former regime to break the will of the Kurdish people.

“The blood of the martyrs became a greater inspiration for Kurdistan’s liberation movement and strengthened its march toward freedom,” he said.

Nechirvan Barzani added that Qaladze and Pshdar, which he described as historic strongholds of struggle and sacrifice, deserve the highest level of attention and support.