People of Qaladze demonstrated that Kurdish will is 'stronger than the enemy's napalm rockets': President Masoud Barzani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The people of Qaladze demonstrated the Kurdish will is much stronger than the "enemy's napalm rockets" dropped on the civilian population of the border town 48 years ago, wrote the President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani on Sunday.

"I would like to convey my salutations to the people of the town who demonstrated that the will of the people of Kurdistan is indeed stronger than the enemy's napalm rockets and policies of extermination," the Kurdish leader tweeted.

On Sunday, the Kurdistan Region commemorated the 48th anniversary of the Qaladze bombardment perpetrated by the former Iraqi regime. On Apr. 24, 1974, warplanes used napalm against the town, where the University of Sulaimani was then temporarily based, killing hundreds of civilians, including university students and lecturers.

In a demonstration held to commemorate the atrocity on its 8th anniversary in 1982, the Iraqi regime violently cracked down on the protestors, killing two women.

On the 48th anniversary of the َQaladiza attack by the former Iraqi regime, I would like to convey my salutations to the people of the town who demonstrated that the will of the people of Kurdistan is indeed stronger than the enemy's napalm rockets and policies of extermination.

— Masoud Barzani (@masoud_barzani) April 24, 2022

Earlier on Sunday, the Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani "saluted" the martyrs of the atrocity and repeated his call on the Iraqi government to compensate the victims of the atrocities as stipulated under the Iraqi Constitution.

The bloody bombardment came after the Iraqi–Kurdish Autonomy Agreement of 1970, signed between the Iraqi regime and Kurdish revolutionary leader General Mustafa Barzani, was violated by Baghdad.