Shafaq News / The President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, called for unity within the region to "protect its gains" in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the Anfal campaign committed by the former Iraqi regime in 1988.

Barzani said in a statement, "We remember with great reverence over 182,000 martyrs of the Anfal, and we bow humbly to their pure souls and salute their noble families and loved ones. On this occasion, we reiterate that the Iraqi government must compensate the families of the Anfal victims in all respects and implement the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Court's decision, which classified the Anfal as a war crime and ethnic cleansing. In the Kurdistan Region, we must also provide them with the best possible services and give them more attention and care."

He added that "the constitutional entity of the Kurdistan Region is the fruit of struggle and sacrifice, and the hundreds of thousands of martyrs who fell victim to horrific crimes such as the Anfal and chemical bombing. On this occasion, let us honor the souls and memories of the martyrs by uniting, sticking together, and working together to protect our gains and rights. We must strive to gain more international recognition of the Anfal campaign as an act of ethnic cleansing and work to prevent similar crimes from happening anywhere in the world."

Human Rights Watch estimates that up to 100,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in systematic ethnic cleansing operations that involved the use of chemical weapons.

Kurdish sources estimate that the number of victims exceeds 180,000. During Saddam Hussein's trial, the Iraqi prosecution in this case stated that the Anfal campaign constituted "genocide" and resulted in the killing of 100,000 Kurds, the destruction of thousands of villages, and the displacement of their inhabitants.

However, Saddam Hussein, who topped the list of defendants in that case, claimed that it was a necessary operation to confront a rebellion during the war with Iran.a