Grave of Iraq Kurds killed by Saddam unearthed

They were made to ‘disappear’ in 1980s

A morbid find: Iraqi officials covering bones from an unearthed mass grave of Kurds in Samawa.

Iraq must never forget Saddam Hussein’s crimes or allow his party to return, President Barham Salih said on Sunday after attending the unearthing of a mass grave of Kurds killed by the former leader’s forces three decades ago.

The grave, found in the desert about 170 km west of the city of Samawa, contained the remains of dozens of Kurds made to “disappear” by Saddam’s forces, Mr. Salih’s office said.

They were among up to 1,80,000 people who may have been killed during Saddam’s “Anfal” campaign that targeted Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s when thousands of Kurds were forced into camps.

“He killed them because they did not accept the continuation of this regime, because they wanted to live a free and dignified life,” said Mr. Salih, a Kurd. “The new Iraq must never forget these crimes that were committed against Iraqi people from all groups,” he said.