Kurdish leaders on Wednesday commemorated the notorious Barzan atrocity which targeted over 8,000 members of the Barzani tribe 41 years ago.

In a statement on Wednesday, former Kurdistan Region President and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani commemorated the tragedy that befell his tribe.

“We thank the families of Anfal victims, especially those mothers and Barzani women who are true examples of resilience and bravery,” Masoud Barzani said. “The crimes committed against the people of Kurdistan are all the result of the chauvinistic, oppressive, and inhumane ideology of Iraq’s oppressive former regime.”

Around 8,000 Bargains were rounded up on July 31, 1983 and forced out of their homes by the Baath regime to be taken to Iraq’s southern deserts where they were mass murdered.

The atrocity was Saddam Hussein’s way of punishing the Barzanis for their huge role in the Kurdish resistance movement against the Iraqi regime. 

The campaign was part of a wider genocidal Anfal campaign launched by Saddam’s regime against the Kurds. Anfal, the eighth chapter of the Islamic Holy book of Quran, was used as codename for the campaign which directly translates to soils of war.

Over 182,000 Kurds were massacred in the eight-year-long campaign and thousands of Kurdish villages were destroyed and wiped out.

Forty-one years later, Kurdish officials continue seeking compensations for the victims’ families. To date, the remains of thousands of victims are to be found somewhere in Iraq.

“The Barzani Anfal campaign, much like other atrocities in the past, aimed to crush the resolve of the people of Kurdistan in their pursuit of freedom,” President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani said in a statement. “Instead, it only served to tarnish the reputation of its perpetrators. It strengthened the Kurdistan liberation movement, empowering them to confront oppression and dictatorship with even greater bravery.”

“We call for international recognition of these events as genocide and emphasize the importance of unity and solidarity among political parties and communities in Kurdistan. Moreover, we advocate for compensation to be provided to the families of the Anfal victims,” he added.

A similar sentiment was shared by the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region.

“The Kurdistan Regional Government is always insistent on fair compensation for families of the former Iraqi regime’s victims in its talks with the federal government,” Masrour Barzani said.

“To date, the Barzan region is a center for defending the rights and requests of the Kurdish nation,” PM Barzani added.

While the remains of 696 Barzanis have been identified and returned to Barzan for burial over the years, thousands remain unaccounted for in Iraq’s southern deserts.