President Barzani Marks 38th Anniversary of the Badinan Anfal Campaign
ARK News.. President Masoud Barzani issued a message on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, marking the 38th anniversary of the Badinan Anfal campaign, stressing that the Kurdish people’s “iron will” ultimately prevailed over the scorched-earth policies of the former Iraqi regime and emphasizing that the Iraqi state has a duty to compensate those affected by all crimes committed against them.
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful,
As part of the series of crimes committed by the former Iraqi regime during the 20th century, the regime launched an inhumane campaign from August 25 to September 6, 1988, targeting large parts of the towns and villages of the beloved Badinan region.
During that campaign, the forces of the Iraqi regime committed crimes, including chemical bombardment, mass arrests, killings, forced displacement, and Anfal operations against innocent civilians. As a result of this heinous crime, thousands of people in Kurdistan were subjected to genocide, disappearance, and displacement, while hundreds of villages were destroyed and razed to the ground.
The regime’s primary objective in this major crime was to alter the demographic composition of Kurdistan, implement a scorched-earth policy, and break the will of the Kurdish people. But the iron will of the people of Kurdistan to survive and achieve freedom ultimately prevailed, while destruction and disgrace became the fate of the enemies and perpetrators, who were left as a lesson for history.
On the 38th anniversary of the Badinan Anfal crime, we extend our deepest respects to the pure souls of the martyrs of the Badinan, Garmiyan, and Barzan Anfal campaigns, as well as to all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives on the path to the freedom of Kurdistan.
On this painful anniversary, we reaffirm that it is the duty of the Iraqi state to compensate the victims of all those crimes and violations committed against the people of Kurdistan.
Masoud Barzani
August 25, 2026
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