Shafaq News- Kirkuk

Some families of Iraqis killed in the Iran-Iraq War remain excluded from official martyr status and benefits 38 years after the conflict ended, Kirkuk Provincial Council member told Shafaq News on Saturday, pledging to pursue their cases with the relevant authorities.

“Regardless of how the war, its circumstances, or the decisions of previous governments are assessed, these people did not make the decision to go to war. They performed their duty and gave their lives defending their country,” Ahmed Fateh Kirkuki said.

On August 8, 1988, 38 years ago today, Iraq celebrated what the former government called Great Victory Day. The eight-year war between Baghdad and Tehran left Iraq with an estimated 105,000 to 200,000 military deaths, about 400,000 wounded and some 70,000 prisoners of war, while Iran is believed to have suffered even heavier losses.