MP: Samawah Mass Grave Victims are Garmianis

PUKMEDIA

The mass grave's site

A mass grave was discovered on Sunday morning, December 22, 2024, and a parliamentarian stated that the victims are Kurds from the Garmian region.

The Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibhrahim Ahmed reported the finding of the mass grave, which is situated in the Tel Sheikhiyah region of the Samwah desert. It was uncovered after a week of diligent effort. The victims were buried in their traditional colourful Kurdish traditional attire as shown in the photos of the mass grave, which proves that the victims are definitely Kurds. 

Karwan Yarwais, a member of the Iraqi Parliament, informed PUKMEDIA that the remains of 150 individuals, all from Garmian, including three women who were pregnant at the time, were discovered in the mass grave.

"The victims were blindfolded and shot and then buried en masse and traces of Kalashnikov bullets were found in the mass grave," Yarwais said.

According to Yarwais, this mass grave is one of three mass graves that the Americans discovered and left behind during the search for Kuwaitis. 

"One of the graves was previously uncovered and this second one has now been uncovered, while the third mass grave will be uncovered in the future,” he said.

Yarwais further stated that all the remains will be sent to the forensic medical examination in Baghdad and blood samples will be taken from the relatives of the Anfal victims to identify the victims, and then they will be buried in Chamchamal, Garmian region, in a proper ceremony.

Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed shared on X: "Today in Tel Al-Sheikhiya, I stood on sacred ground where a newly discovered mass grave tells the story of unimaginable loss. I honour the victims of the Anfal genocide and pledge to exert every effort to bring closure for their families."

The Iraqi first lady persists in her efforts to return the remains of mass grave victims to their relatives and families.

At the request of the Iraqi first lady, a professional team arrived in the Kurdistan Region earlier this month as part of a campaign to identify the victims of mass graves, collecting data and blood samples from relatives of Anfal victims. 

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Martyrs and Veterans of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) urges the Iraqi government to provide compensation to the families of Anfal martyrs and asserts that it is the responsibility of the international community to prevent any future genocide against the Kurds.

The Martyrs Bureau declared: "The genocide crimes committed against the Kurdish people constitute an unhealed wound, with enduring scars, notably the matter of mass graves, which represents both a humanitarian and political concern. This is particularly significant as thousands of women, children, and individuals of all ages were forcibly displaced from their homeland in Kurdistan to the desert areas of southern Iraq, where they were interred alive." 

It added: "This crime constituted an international crime, and the Iraqi government is obligated to compensate the victims' relatives and the international community has a responsibility to prevent greater genocide against the Kurds."

Iraq's fallen Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath dictatorial regime launched the Anfal campaign in February 1988, targeting Kurdish civilians and lasting until September of that year. It is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous cases of state-sponsored mass murder 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.

According to statistics, 270 mass graves have been discovered since Iraq's liberation, with many more still to be found. The majority of these graves are concentrated in the area between Diwaniyah, Samawah, and Najaf provinces.  



PUKMEDIA