Prime Minister Barzani on Badinan Anfal Anniversary, Demands Federal Government Compensate All Victims

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Kurdistan Region Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani issued a solemn statement on Tuesday commemorating the anniversary of the Anfal genocide campaign in Badinan, honoring the memory of thousands of innocent people killed and abducted by the former Iraqi regime during its final and most devastating stage, and calling once again on the federal government of Iraq to compensate the families of all Anfal victims, chemical attack survivors, and those who fell victim to Saddam Hussein's regime.

"On the anniversary of the notorious Anfal genocide campaign in Badinan, we remember all the victims of this inhuman crime," Masrour Barzani said in his statement. "During the final stage of this campaign of genocide, the former Iraqi regime killed and abducted thousands of innocent people from the different communities of the Badinan region and destroyed hundreds of villages, resulting in the displacement of tens of thousands of people."

On the anniversary of the notorious Anfal genocide campaign in Badinan, we remember all the victims of this inhuman crime. During the final stage of this campaign of genocide, the former Iraqi regime killed and abducted thousands of innocent people from the different communities… pic.twitter.com/K8Kga5AYYK

— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) August 25, 2026

The Badinan Anfal, carried out in August and September 1988, was the eighth and final stage of the broader Anfal campaign, a systematic genocidal operation conducted by Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime against the Kurdish population of northern Iraq between February and September 1988. The campaign in Badinan was among the most brutal phases of the operation, combining mass executions, forced disappearances, the destruction of hundreds of villages, and the displacement of entire communities from their ancestral lands in what is now the Duhok governorate of the Kurdistan Region.

The Badinan Anfal followed the chemical weapons massacre at Halabja on March 16-17, 1988, in which the regime killed between 3,200 and 5,000 Kurdish civilians using mustard gas and nerve agents, the largest chemical weapons attack on a civilian population in history. The combination of chemical attacks and the Anfal campaign resulted in the deaths of an estimated 50,000 to 182,000 Kurdish civilians, the destruction of more than 4,000 villages, and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Kurds across northern Iraq.

Prime Minister Masrour Barzani renewed a call that the KRG has consistently placed before the federal government in Baghdad. "We once again call on the federal government of Iraq to compensate the families of all victims of the Anfal genocide, the chemical attacks, and all those who fell victim to the former regime," he said, reflecting the ongoing demand for formal federal recognition and material compensation for one of the worst atrocities committed against the Kurdish people.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed the Kurdistan Region Government's own commitment to the families of those who were lost. "The KRG reaffirms its commitment to continue to support the families of the martyrs and Anfal victims," he said, closing his statement with a tribute to all those who perished. "May the souls of the victims of the Anfal genocide and all the martyrs of Kurdistan rest in eternal peace."