DNA Tests Conducted for Anfal Victims' Relatives

PUKMEDIA

Blood sample and Kurdistan flag in the background.

A specialised team from Baghdad has been gathering blood samples for DNA analysis from the families of the Anfal victims in Chamchamal for two days, and the presidential adviser stated that the Iraqi government should cover the expenses of DNA testing for the descendants of the Anfal victims.

Pari Nuri Aziz, an advisor in Iraqi Presidency, told PUKMEDIA that an Iraqi forensic team began collecting blood samples from Anfal victims' relatives on February 17, 2024, and that the process will last five days, adding that it is being carried out at the request of the Iraqi First Lady.

She stated that after the blood samples from the relatives of the Anfal victims are collected in the Kurdistan Region, the DNA testing process will proceed in Baghdad. She also mentioned that the burial ceremony will take place as soon as the tests are finished, as required by law. 

The forensic department in Baghdad kept the remains of 172 Anfal victims for nearly four years before transporting them to the Kurdistan Region. The remains could not be buried without proper identification. A specialised team from Baghdad is currently in the Kurdistan Region at the request of Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed to collect blood samples from martyrs' relatives for DNA testing.

Statistics indicate that 270 mass graves have been unearthed since Iraq's liberation, with numerous further mass graves yet to be excavated. The majority of these graves are concentrated in the region bounded by Diwaniyah, Samawah, and Najaf provinces.

Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath dictatorial regime launched the Anfal campaign in February 1988, targeting the Kurdish civilian population and lasting until September of that year. It is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous examples of state-sponsored mass killings during Iraq's Ba'ath regime. The military and regular forces, including the First Corps in Kirkuk and the Fifth Corps in Erbil, as well as the Air Force, Special Forces, Republican Guard, Commando Forces, security and intelligence services, military intelligence, and chemical and biological weapons departments, were all mobilised to carry out these operations. The Anfal atrocities killed over 182,000 Kurdish civilians, including women, children, and the elderly.

 

PUKMEDIA