'45 Children Were Anfal-ed in Their Mothers' Wombs': Scientist Unveils
Prof. Dr. Yaseen Kareem revealed that forensic evidence proves 45 unborn children were killed in their mothers' wombs during the Anfal genocide against the Kurds.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a chilling and powerful revelation that has cast a new and devastating light on the depths of the Ba'athist regime's brutality, Professor Dr. Yassin Karim, a leading figure in the scientific documentation of the Kurdish genocide, announced on Tuesday that forensic evidence has proven that at least 45 children were killed while still in their mothers' wombs during the Anfal campaign.
This horrific and scientifically verified detail, shared at the opening of the Fifth International Conference on the Recognition of the Kurdish Genocide, serves as a gut-wrenching symbol of the regime's intent to not only exterminate a generation but to extinguish the future of the Kurdish nation itself.
Speaking in his capacity as the president of the high-profile conference, Dr. Yassin addressed an audience that included President Masoud Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and a host of international guests and academics, framing the role of the scientific community as a sacred duty to illuminate the truth.
"We academics are the illuminators of this issue and we want to tell the whole world that a crime has been committed against us that is unparalleled," he declared.
He asserted that scientific evidence from the field of forensic medicine has definitively proven that more than 182,000 innocent citizens were systematically murdered, many of them buried alive.
To illustrate the sheer, calculated cruelty of these crimes, Dr. Yassin pointed to the specific and heartbreaking findings from a single mass grave, that of 'Hazar, Jafayati'.
"In that grave alone," he revealed, "45 children were in their mothers' wombs when they were martyred, the age of all of whom is clear through medical imaging."
This stark, clinical detail—the ability to determine the gestational age of the unborn victims—transforms the abstract horror of genocide into a tangible and irrefutable scientific fact, a powerful new piece of evidence in the long and arduous campaign for global recognition.
A Unified Front for Justice and Memory
The conference, a landmark collaboration between the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of Health, was marked by the prominent presence of the Kurdistan Region's highest leadership.
Both President Masoud Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani attended the opening ceremony, signaling a unified and unwavering commitment to the cause.
In his own powerful and emotional address, President Barzani meticulously chronicled a century of systematic persecution against the Kurdish people, from the persecution of the Faili Kurds and the Anfal of the Barzanis to the chemical bombardment of Halabja and the 2014 genocide of the Yazidis.
He contrasted the sheer scale of these crimes with the remarkable restraint shown by the Kurdish people during the 1991 uprising, where they chose forgiveness over revenge against their captors. "Unfortunately, the value and appreciation of this stance of the people of Kurdistan has not yet been recognized," the President lamented, in a subtle critique of the international community.
He stressed that the purpose of remembering these horrors is to ensure they are never repeated. "What is important is that these crimes are not forgotten. So that the coming generations know what happened to their fathers and grandfathers. So they know at what price this freedom has been achieved," he said, adding with defiant pride, "It is not by anyone's favor, and no one has done us a charity."
Dr. Yassin, in his speech, echoed the President's historical scope, clarifying that all the attacks on the Kurdish people, from the time of the Ba'ath regime to the more recent onslaught by ISIS against the Yazidi Kurds, Christians, Kakais, and Peshmerga forces, shared a single, overarching goal: "the erasure of the identity of the Kurdish people."
A Sustained Campaign, A Strategic Pivot to Science
This high-level gathering in Duhok is not an isolated event but the latest and most scientifically focused chapter in a sustained and multi-faceted campaign waged by the Kurdish people and their leadership on both local and global stages.
It follows a series of academic and cultural initiatives, from the halls of Yale University to the symbolic city of Halabja, all aimed at preserving memory and demanding justice.
The conference represents a strategic pivot, a concerted effort to harness the power of forensic science, genetic identification, and international law to build a case that is not only morally compelling but legally and scientifically irrefutable.
This concerted effort is the culmination of years of dedicated work to elevate the cause of Kurdish genocide recognition on the world stage. Just this past April, a historic conference entitled “History & Legacy of the Kurdish Genocide” was held at the prestigious Yale University, featuring powerful messages from both Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and President Masoud Barzani.
In his message to Yale, President Barzani described the academic focus on the genocide as "a valuable step and initiative to achieve historical justice and responsibility by revealing the facts."
Prime Minister Barzani, in his own speech, issued a powerful call to the academic world: “Your research, your voices, and your compassion will help give meaning to the words ‘never again’.”
The Duhok conference is a direct answer to that call, moving beyond historical narrative to the hard data of forensic science. Dr. Yassin's revelation about the 45 unborn children is a prime example of this new, scientifically grounded approach.
It is evidence that is stark, quantifiable, and universally understood in the language of science, designed to penetrate the conscience of an international community that has often been slow to act on historical and testimonial accounts alone.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Yassin expressed his profound thanks and appreciation to the Kurdish leadership for their unwavering support of this scientific work.
He specifically thanked President Masoud Barzani for his "continuous support and guidance in the case of the mass graves." He also extended his gratitude to Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the Office of the Prime Minister, whom he described as the "main encouragers and supporters of the holding of this scientific work."
This high-level backing, he implied, has been crucial in providing the resources and political will necessary to undertake such a massive and complex task.
As the conference continues its work over the next two days, the horrific image of 45 children martyred in the womb will undoubtedly linger as its most powerful and disturbing finding.
It is a detail that encapsulates the absolute totality of the genocidal intent—a war not just against a people, but against their very future. It is this kind of scientifically proven, heartbreaking evidence that the academics and leaders gathered in Duhok hope will finally make the world listen, understand, and act.
