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The Anfal Campaign and the Kurdish Genocide (1988)

Between February and September 1988, the Iraqi Baathist regime carried out a systematic military campaign against the Kurdish population of northern Iraq. The operation, code-named Anfal after a chapter of the Quran meaning "the spoils of war," was directed by Ali Hassan al-Majid — known as Chemical Ali — and involved mass executions, chemical weapons attacks, forced displacement, village destruction, and enforced disappearances on a scale that constituted genocide.

 

An estimated 50,000 to 182,000 Kurdish civilians were killed. Over 4,000 villages were destroyed. Chemical weapons including mustard gas and nerve agents were deployed against civilian populations. The Halabja chemical attack of 16 March 1988 killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people in a single day — the largest chemical weapons attack against a civilian population since World War I. The Anfal campaign remains one of the defining tragedies of Kurdish history and one of the most documented genocides of the twentieth century.

 

Contents

 

 

The Barzani Disappearances (1983)

 

The Anfal campaign did not begin in a vacuum. Years of escalating violence preceded it. In 1983, the Iraqi regime carried out one of its most chilling atrocities: the mass disappearance of approximately 8,000 Barzani males. Men and boys from the Barzani tribal areas were rounded up by Iraqi security forces, loaded onto trucks, and taken to unknown locations in southern Iraq. They were never seen again. Their fate remains unconfirmed, but they are presumed to have been executed and buried in mass graves.

 

The Barzani disappearances were a deliberate act of collective punishment targeting the family and tribe of Mustafa Barzani, who had died in exile in 1979. The operation demonstrated the Baathist regime's willingness to use extermination as a tool of political control — a foreshadowing of the industrial-scale violence that would follow in 1988.

 

The Eight Anfal Operations (1988)

 

The Anfal campaign was carried out in eight sequential military operations between February and September 1988, each targeting a different region of Iraqi Kurdistan. The operations were conducted during the final phase of the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), when Kurdish Peshmerga forces had aligned with Iran against the Iraqi regime.

 

The First Anfal (February–March 1988) targeted the Jafati Valley, a PUK stronghold in Sulaymaniyah Governorate. The Second Anfal (March–April 1988) struck the Qara Dagh region. The Third Anfal (April 1988) devastated the Germian plain — one of the most densely populated Kurdish agricultural areas. The Fourth Anfal (May 1988) hit the Little Zab and Koya region. The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Anfals (May–August 1988) targeted the Shaqlawa and Rawanduz valleys. The Eighth and final Anfal (August–September 1988) struck Badinan, a KDP stronghold in Duhok Governorate.

 

Each Anfal operation followed the same pattern: aerial bombardment (often including chemical weapons), ground assault by Iraqi Army and Jash (Kurdish collaborator) forces, roundup of surviving civilian populations, separation of men and boys from women and children, trucking of detainees to holding centres in southern Iraq, and execution. Thousands of men and boys who passed through these processing centres were never seen again.

 

The Halabja Chemical Attack (16 March 1988)

 

The most infamous single atrocity of the Anfal campaign was the chemical attack on the city of Halabja on 16 March 1988. Iraqi aircraft dropped chemical agents — including mustard gas, sarin, tabun, and VX nerve agent — across the residential neighbourhoods of a city whose population had swelled to approximately 80,000 due to the forced displacement of surrounding villages.

 

Between 3,200 and 5,000 people were killed within hours. Thousands more were injured, many with long-term health effects including cancers, respiratory diseases, and birth defects that continue to affect Halabja's population to this day. The attack occurred after Peshmerga forces supported by Iranian Revolutionary Guards had briefly captured the town, and the Iraqi regime struck in reprisal.

 

Photographs taken by foreign journalists who reached Halabja in the days after the attack — showing streets filled with the bodies of men, women, and children frozen in their final moments — became some of the most powerful images of the late twentieth century. Halabja represented the largest chemical weapons attack against a civilian population since World War I and remains the most recognised symbol of the Kurdish genocide.

 

The Scale of Destruction

 

The total scale of the Anfal campaign is staggering. Human Rights Watch, which conducted the most comprehensive independent investigation, estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 Kurdish civilians were killed. Kurdish sources, particularly the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), cite a figure of approximately 182,000. Over 4,000 villages and hundreds of small towns were systematically demolished, erasing centuries of Kurdish rural life.

 

The campaign was not simply military counterinsurgency. As documented by Human Rights Watch from captured Iraqi government files, the Anfal operations were designed to destroy Kurdish civilian life in the targeted areas permanently. The Ba'ath Party policy sought to eliminate all aspects of Kurdish existence — political, social, biological, physical, religious, and cultural. Villages were not merely evacuated; they were bulldozed. Orchards were cut down. Water sources were poisoned. The intent was to make the land uninhabitable and Kurdish rural society unrecoverable.

 

International Response and Justice

 

The international community's response to the Anfal campaign during and immediately after the events was largely inadequate. The United States and other Western governments, which maintained strategic relationships with Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, were slow to condemn the attacks. Despite abundant evidence of chemical weapons use, meaningful international action was not taken until years later.

 

After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, Ali Hassan al-Majid and other senior Baathist officials were captured, tried by the Iraqi High Tribunal, and convicted of genocide. Al-Majid was executed in 2010. The Iraqi High Tribunal formally ruled that the Anfal campaign constituted genocide in 2006. Several countries and the European Parliament have also formally recognised the Anfal as genocide, though universal international recognition has not been achieved.

 

The Anfal campaign is commemorated annually across the Kurdistan Region. Halabja in particular remains a powerful symbol of both Kurdish suffering and resilience. The Kurdistan Regional Government has established documentation projects, survivor testimony archives, and partnerships with international institutions to preserve the historical record and raise global awareness of the genocide.

 

Timeline

 

1983 — Approximately 8,000 Barzani males disappeared by the Iraqi regime.

1987 — Ali Hassan al-Majid appointed to oversee northern Iraq. Anfal framework established.

Feb–Mar 1988 — First Anfal: Jafati Valley.

Mar–Apr 1988 — Second Anfal: Qara Dagh.

16 March 1988 — Halabja chemical attack. Between 3,200 and 5,000 civilians killed.

April 1988 — Third Anfal: Germian. Mass village destruction and deportation.

May 1988 — Fourth Anfal: Little Zab and Koya region.

May–Aug 1988 — Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Anfals: Shaqlawa and Rawanduz valleys.

Aug–Sep 1988 — Eighth Anfal: Badinan. Final major operation.

2003 — Ali Hassan al-Majid captured after US invasion of Iraq.

2006 — Iraqi High Tribunal rules Anfal constituted genocide.

2010 — Ali Hassan al-Majid executed.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

What was the Anfal campaign?

 

The Anfal campaign was a systematic military operation carried out by the Iraqi Baathist regime against the Kurdish population of northern Iraq between February and September 1988. Directed by Ali Hassan al-Majid, it involved eight coordinated phases of military operations including aerial bombing, chemical weapons attacks, mass executions, forced displacement, and village destruction. It has been ruled a genocide by the Iraqi High Tribunal.

 

How many people died in the Anfal campaign?

 

Estimates vary. Human Rights Watch, which conducted the most comprehensive independent investigation, estimated between 50,000 and 100,000 Kurdish civilians were killed. Kurdish sources, particularly the PUK, cite approximately 182,000. Over 4,000 villages were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced. The exact death toll may never be known due to the systematic nature of the killings and the destruction of evidence.

 

What happened at Halabja?

 

On 16 March 1988, the Iraqi Air Force dropped chemical weapons — including mustard gas, sarin, tabun, and VX nerve agent — on the Kurdish city of Halabja. Between 3,200 and 5,000 civilians were killed within hours. Thousands more suffered long-term health effects. It was the largest chemical weapons attack against a civilian population since World War I and remains the most recognised single atrocity of the Kurdish genocide.

 

Who was Chemical Ali?

 

Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali, was the Iraqi military officer who directed the Anfal campaign. A cousin of Saddam Hussein, he was appointed to oversee northern Iraq in 1987 with sweeping authority over military and security operations. He authorised the use of chemical weapons against Kurdish civilians and oversaw the systematic destruction of Kurdish villages. He was captured after the 2003 US invasion, convicted of genocide by the Iraqi High Tribunal, and executed in 2010.

 

Is the Anfal recognised as a genocide?

 

Yes. The Iraqi High Tribunal formally ruled in 2006 that the Anfal campaign constituted genocide. Several countries and the European Parliament have also formally recognised it as genocide. Human Rights Watch documented the campaign extensively in its 1993 report Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds, which remains the most comprehensive independent investigation. However, universal international recognition of the Anfal as genocide has not yet been fully achieved.

 

What was the international response to the Anfal campaign?

 

The international response during the Anfal campaign was largely inadequate. The United States and other Western governments maintained strategic relationships with Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War and were slow to condemn the attacks despite clear evidence of chemical weapons use. Meaningful international action was not taken until after the 1991 Gulf War and the subsequent Kurdish uprising. Full accountability came only after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when Anfal perpetrators were captured and tried.

 

References

 

McDowall, David, A Modern History of the Kurds, I.B. Tauris, 2004.

Hiltermann, Joost, A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja, Cambridge University Press, 2007.

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