SULAIMANI, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— Iraq’s Kurdistan Region marked Anfal Remembrance Day on Thursday (April 14), marking the end of Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath Regime’s genocidal campaign against Kurds in the north of the country.

The Anfal campaign, launched and led by Ba’ath Party Secretary-General Ali Hassan al-Majid, is widely understood to have begun in 1986 and lasted through 1988. Ground offensives, aerial bombardments, systematic destruction of villages and mass deportations were used as part of the campaign that killed and disappeared an estimated 182,000 Kurds.

A French diplomatic delegation headed by French ambassador to Iraq Mark Bertini would attend a remembrance ceremony in the eastern town of Halabja, NRT reported.

A chemical weapons attack on Halabja in 1988, as part of the Anfal campaign, killed up to 5,000 people and wounded thousands more.

A number of international governments have recognized the Anfal campaign as genocide against Iraq’s Kurdish population, including Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom and South Korea.

Norway officially recognized Anfal as genocide in November 2012 and was followed by Sweden’s parliament, which adopted a similar resolution in December 2012. The U.K. and South Korean governments recognized the Anfal campaign as genocide in March and June of 2013 respectively.

The U.S. Consulate General in Erbil issued a message to its official Facebook page Thursday, expressing sadness for the victims of the campaign, which also included Ezidis, Assyrians and other Iraqi minorities.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Council of Ministers called on Kurdish people to stand for one over a minute as a respect for the Anfal campaign.

“The United States joins others across Iraq and around the world in remembering the victims of the Anfal,” the statement said.

“We reaffirm our commitment to stand with all Iraqis, including those in the Kurdistan Region, as they work to defeat Da’esh and ensure a secure, democratic and economically prosperous future for Iraq,” it continued, referring to the Islamic State (IS), which has carried out a campaign targeting minorities in northern Iraq.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) also marked the day with employees in Erbil and Sulaimani observing a minute of silence early in the day.

Meanwhile, families of Anfal victims held a demonstration and blocked the Sulaimani-Kirkuk highway. The families said they were protesting over salary delays.

The mayor of Chamchamal, located along the highway between Sulaimani and Kirkuk, said his town would not hold remembrance ceremonies, upon a request by victims’ families, who say their lives have not improved since the end of the Anfal campaign.

Residents of Garmiyan and Tuz Khurmatu districts also said they would not mark the day, citing similar reasons.

A significant number of villages in those areas were destroyed during the Anfal campaign, and many victims were from villages and towns in the southern part of the Kurdistan Region.

Kurdish blocs in the Iraqi Parliament called on Speaker Salim al-Jabouri to issue and official apology for the campaign on Wednesday (April 13), which led to a fight that erupted during an emergency session to discuss new cabinet posts.

Iraqi Parliament member Rebwar Taha spoke with NRT and said his faction and Anfal victims had been insulted by other MPs after the request for an apology.

At least three members of the Iraqi Parliament were wounded as the session erupted into chaos.

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