Anfal-Era 'Executioner' of Nugra Salman Prison Captured in Iraq
Iraqi forces arrested Ajaj Ahmed Hardan, the "executioner" of Nugra Salman prison, accused of genocide and torture against Kurds during the Anfal campaign. His capture follows a six-month intelligence operation, ending decades on the run after he allegedly faked his death.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iraqi security forces have arrested a notorious former regime officer known as the "executioner of Nugra Salman prison," who is accused of committing genocide, torture, and murder against hundreds of Kurdish citizens during the infamous Anfal campaign, security officials announced Friday.
Ajaj Ahmed Hardan al-Tikriti was captured in Saladin Governorate on Thursday following a meticulous, six-month intelligence investigation, according to a statement released by the Iraqi National Security Service (INSS). The arrest brings an end to a decades-long manhunt for a figure implicated in some of the Ba'ath regime's most brutal atrocities.
"National Security Service detachments in Muthanna province, in coordination with the Southern Saladdin Security Directorate, were able to arrest one of the most wanted henchmen of the former regime," the INSS statement read. The agency detailed that Hardan served as a security officer at the notorious Nugra Salman prison in Muthanna Governorate, a key site during the 1988 Anfal campaign.
The INSS stated that the captured individual "committed numerous crimes against humanity and participated in the live burial and execution of Kurdish citizens." The agency’s announcement further specified that his actions included "torture, murder, and burying citizens alive," as well as the sexual assault of female detainees held at the prison.
For years, Hardan evaded justice by reportedly faking his own death. The INSS clarified that the criminal's family "had long claimed that he was dead." However, the agency said that persistent "intelligence efforts, information analysis, and cross-reference with previous confessions" ultimately led security forces to his hiding place in Saladin.
Iraqi security expert Fadhil Abu Raghif, in a social media post on Friday, described the arrested man as "Saddam's personal butcher" and "Saddam's sharp tool." Abu Raghif added, "The Anfal butcher… subjected his prisoners to the bitterest torture. Decades of killing and torture were his trademark.”
Hardan, a member of the Albu Nasir tribe, was one of the supervisors of the Nugra Salman prison, which held between 6,000 and 8,000 people during the Anfal campaign, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. After the fall of the Ba'ath regime in 2003, he reportedly fled from Kirkuk to Syria.
The announcement of his arrest on August 1 coincided with the 42nd anniversary of the Barzani Genocide, a precursor to the wider Anfal campaign where the Ba'ath regime abducted and executed an estimated 8,000 members of the Barzani tribe. The Anfal campaign itself resulted in the deaths of over 182,000 Kurds and the destruction of thousands of villages.
On the solemn occasion of the anniversary, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani called the forced disappearance of the Barzanis a "criminal and inhumane act that starkly reflected the brutality of the dictatorial regime."
Kurdish leaders, including President Masoud Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, also commemorated the anniversary, stressing the need to confront the revival of "chauvinistic" ideologies.
In its statement, the Iraqi National Security Service affirmed that it will "continue to arrest all those who have the blood of innocent Iraqi citizens on their hands."
Documented stories from the families of victims of the Anfal genocide can be found at this link.
