Genocide or Politicide: Whom to Blame for the Kurdish Genocide?
The Kurdish Genocide which killed thousands of Kurds
Saddam Hussain’s period as President of Iraq metastasized the genocide war. It was a long time in flames that finally turned against the Kurdish, making a scar on the world's history.
Even today, the survivors of the Anfal Kurdish war shatter thinking about their lost and dead ones.
In 2019 in the provinces of Al-Muthanna, located in the southern part of Iraq, Kurdish bodies were left dead. Heaps of dead bodies laid in the Samawa desert. Approximately after 49 years of the Turkish and Kurdish conflict, the province reminds about the war of Saddam Hussain’s regime.
Al-Anfal Campaign
The worst establishment of power was a fan to flame. They were converting the conflict into a genocide war in Iraq. The Kurdish and Turkish conflict converted the lands to the bed of the dead.
Up to 182,000 Kurdish people were killed by the people of Ba’athist Iraq.
Manifesting Turkish to dominate over the Kurds was the aim of the President of Saddam Hussain. It was then his conspiracy was to attack the Kurds. The attempt swelled into a genocide war in 1980.
Now, 14 April is a memorable day announced by Kurdistan’s Government for the Al Alfan Campaign.
The people of Iraq faced a miserable period during the continuation of the War. The Kurdish Region of Iraq left as a dead city with the different Alfal campaigns implying on the people.
Altogether eight attempts of military and chemical attacks were implemented ruefully. It led to destroying lives of more than 50,000 people in the war.
Even after many decades, the survivors are anxiously looking for their Kurdish lost family members whom they had lost in the Anfal genocide campaigns.
DNA testing was not applicable till 2019. Consistently the need was perceived with the finding of dead bodies.
According to the survivors of the conflict, masses of dead Kurds were mixed with others and buried in the mass grave of the Medical Legal Institute in Baghdad.
The DNA test will enable them to find out the dead and lost family members whom the survivors were looking for decades.
They were struggling for a long to find out their family members in Iraq.
Husseins’ Ideologies
Saddam Hussein had very definite political and socialist ideologies that developed an ethically homogenous Arab.
He believed in getting rid of Iraq’s non-Arabs which would create a unifying effect that would later assure Iraq’s success in war and mold Iraq’s position globally.
However, the Kurdish people were believed as descendants of Persia, and thus, they soon became a peril to his ideology.
Chemical-Ali
The main method adopted by Ali Hassan al-Majid during the campaign was the chemical gas attack. He was given the name “Chemical Ali” because of his extensive use of chemical weapons.
The most infamous Halabja Chemical attack took place on March 16, 1988.
In this attack, more than 5,000 died, and 10,000 were injured.
The Halabja chemical attack is also the largest chemical weapon attack on a civilian-populated area.
Later during the rule of Saddam, the long-time revolution converted to a genocide war.
The use of military and chemical weapons in the Al Anfal genocide war was executed into eight stages.
This only depicts the intensity of the Government to destroy the Kurdish in Iraq.
Anfal 1
Artillery and air attacks were the beginning of the Anfal 1 at the borders of the Jafali Valley at late hours on the same day on 23 February 1988. The attacks continued till 18th March of the same year. Apart from the air attacks on the Headquarters, the villages near the Jafali valley lambasted with poisonous gas.
In the mid of March, the Halabja attack led to the killing of 5000 Kurdish people. It leads to capturing Halabja on 16th March 1988.
Anfal 2
The Qara Dagh region was on focus along with the Bazian and Darbandikan areas. The villages once again suffered from poisonous gases leading to the killing of many civilians.
It was on 22nd March and 2nd April of 1988. In Anfal 2, the Kurdish military force, Peshmerga had faced severe casualties. Those civilians managed to survive, fled towards Suleimanya, and finally retired to the Garmin region. But most of them who were trapped had hard times men separated from their families.
Anfal 3
The situation of the Kurdish region worsened in Anfal 3 mission when they did not spare the Garmin region. After the decline of the Peshmerga, the Iraq forces could attack the eastern part of Suleimanya.
This time it was the chemical weapon attack, Tazashar, that destroyed the villages.
Several women and children were not seen again at all. They disappeared all of a sudden. During the campaign from 7th April, Iraq forces announced amnesty led to detaining of the Kurds.
Anfal 4
Little Zab was a valley, Iraq’s target from 3rd May, in Anfal 4. Kirkuk and Erbil are the borders of this little valley that was in target.
It was a war with chemical weapons. The villages Askar and Goktapa were destroyed by poisonous gas. They also occupied the Faw Peninsula.
Anfal 5,6,7
By the end of the mission of Anfal 7, the valleys Rawandiz and Shadlawa were captured by Saddam’s forces. The forces failed at the first attempt. It was between 15th May to 16 August. The Kurdish civilians started to flee from the valleys. Finally, the valley was captured but with fewer losses to the Kurds as it could be at the first attack of Anfal 5.
Anfal 8
The chemical attacks phase was in Anfal 8 from 25th August to 6 September 1988. About ten thousand Kurd people had fled to Turkey after Wirmeli, Bilejane, Tuka, and Ikmala were under the chemical attack.
Finally, the Turkey route was blocked, the people who did not flee were taken to the detention center.
Concentration Camps and Detentions
In 1988 the Anfal genocide war ended after the President’s declaration. It was then the Kurdish people were not allowed to flee away.
In 1988 the route to Turkey from Iraq was blocked to stop them from escaping. That was a miserable time as the families were separated from each other. Men kept away from their children and women.
The women and children were left to starve and die, and the men were separated by the firing squad and were made to stand in a line where the squad fires uncountable bullets, leading to the assassination of hundreds of men.
The Iraqi government believed that an individual is enough to rise in rebellion, so they killed them all.
