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{{Short description|Operation targeting rural Kurdish civilians in 1988}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Anfal campaign
| location = Northern Iraq
| date = February–September 1988
| partof = the [[Iran–Iraq War]] and the [[Iraqi–Kurdish conflict]]
| image = Iraqi Kurdistan in Iraq (disputed hatched).svg
| image_size = 250px
| subheader = 
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = 
| target = [[Peshmerga]]<br/> and [[Kurds|Kurdish]] civilians
| type = {{hlist|[[Genocide]]|[[ethnic cleansing]]|[[mass murder]]|[[deportation]]|[[chemical warfare]]|[[enforced disappearance]]|[[counterinsurgency]]}}
| weapons = 
| fatalities = See [[Anfal campaign#Death toll|Death toll]]:
* 50,000–100,000 (per [[Human Rights Watch|HRW]]){{sfn|Black|1993|p=345}}
* 182,000 ([[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan|PUK]] claim)<ref name="Cruelty and Silence">{{cite book|authorlink=Kanan Makiya|last=Makiya|first=Kanan|title=Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising, and the Arab World|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|year=1994|isbn=9780393311419|pages=163–168}}</ref>
| perpetrator = {{tree list}}
* '''[[Ba'athist Iraq]]'''
** [[Iraqi Armed Forces]]
** [[Jash (term)|Jash]] forces{{sfn|Hardi|2011|p=17}}
*** [[National Defense Battalions (Iraq)|National Defense Battalions]]<ref name="Foreign Relations 2000. pp. 545">Annual Report on International Religious Freedom 2002: Report Submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate and the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives. United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. 2000. pp. 545</ref><ref name="Repression 1994, pp. 26">Bureaucracy of Repression: The Iraqi Government in Its Own Words, Joost R. Hiltermann, Human Rights Watch (Organization), 1994, pp. 26, {{ISBN|9781564321275}}</ref>
*** [[Yazidis|Yazidi]] and [[Yarsanism|Yarsani]] units<ref name="Foreign Relations 2000. pp. 545">Annual Report on International Religious Freedom 2002: Report Submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate and the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives. United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. 2000. pp. 545</ref><ref name="Repression 1994, pp. 26">Bureaucracy of Repression: The Iraqi Government in Its Own Words, Joost R. Hiltermann, Human Rights Watch (Organization), 1994, pp. 26, {{ISBN|9781564321275}}</ref><ref name="Near East 1995, pp. 171">Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East: Collected Papers of the International Symposium “Alevism in Turkey and Comparable Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East in the Past and Present”, Berlin, 14–17 April 1995, 2018, pp. 171, {{ISBN|9789004378988}}</ref>
{{tree list/end}}
| motive = [[Counterinsurgency]], [[Anti-Kurdish sentiment]], [[Arabization]]
| convicted = [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]]<br/>[[Hussein Rashid]]<br/>[[Farhan Jubouri]]
}}{{Campaignbox Iran-Iraq War}}
{{Campaignbox Kurdish–Iraqi conflict}}{{Saddam Hussein series}}
The '''Anfal campaign'''{{efn|{{langx|ar|حملة الأنفال|Hamlat al-Anfal}}; {{langx|ku|شاڵاوی ئەنفال|şallawî ienfal}} or sometimes ''Kampanyayê Enfalê''{{fact|date=November 2025}}r}} was a [[counterinsurgency]] operation, described by many scholars and human rights groups as a [[genocide]] or [[ethnic cleansing]], which was carried out by [[Ba'athist Iraq]] from February to September 1988 during the [[Iraqi–Kurdish conflict]] at the end of the [[Iran–Iraq War]]. The campaign targeted rural [[Kurds]]{{sfn|Hiltermann|2008|loc=Victims}} because its purpose was to eliminate Kurdish rebel groups and [[Arabization|Arabize]] strategic parts of the [[Kirkuk Governorate]].{{sfn|Kirmanj|Rafaat|2021|p=163}} The [[Ba'athist Iraq|Ba'athist regime]] committed atrocities on the local Kurdish population, mostly civilians.<ref name=":4">{{cite news |last=Beeston |first=Richard |date=18 January 2010 |title=Halabja, the massacre the West tried to ignore |work=The Times |url=https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6991512.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=28 August 2013 |archive-url=http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20100123105309/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6991512.ece |archive-date=23 January 2010}}</ref> Although primarily targeting Kurds, other non-Arabs also fell victim to the Anfal campaign.<ref>The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Barwar, Geoffrey Khan, 2008, pp. 6, {{ISBN|9789047443490}}</ref>

The Iraqi forces were led by [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]], on the orders of President [[Saddam Hussein]]. The campaign's name was taken from the title of [[Al-Anfal|the eighth chapter of the Qur'an]] (''al-ʾanfāl'').

In 1993, [[Human Rights Watch]] released a report on the Anfal campaign based on documents captured by Kurdish rebels during the [[1991 uprisings in Iraq]]; HRW described it as a genocide and estimated between 50,000 and 100,000 deaths. This characterization of the Anfal campaign was disputed by a 2007 [[The Hague|Hague]] court ruling, which stated that documentary evidence was sufficient to establish the charge of genocide.{{Efn|Sources on the 2007 Hague court ruling:
* {{Cite web |date=19 June 2007 |title=Dutch Court Concludes Anfal Campaign Wasn't Genocide |url=http://opiniojuris.org/2007/05/19/dutch-court-concludes-anfal-campaign-wasnt-genocide/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008055522/http://opiniojuris.org/2007/05/19/dutch-court-concludes-anfal-campaign-wasnt-genocide/ |archive-date=8 October 2009 |website=OpinioJuris |quote=The appellate court, however, did not simply conclude that van Anraat was unaware of Saddam's genocidal plan. It also held that the Anfal campaign did not amount to genocide. In its written judgment, the appeals panel said there was insufficient evidence to establish that the poison gas attacks on Kurdish villages in 1987 and 1988 amounted to genocide.}}
* {{Cite news |last=Gottlieb |first=Sebastian |date=10 May 2007 |title=Van Anraat case 'example' |work=Radio Netherlands |url=https://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/anr070510mc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070908064822/https://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/anr070510mc |archive-date=8 September 2007 |quote=In contrast to the original court judgement, the Court of Appeal concluded that the events in Northern Iraq weren't genocide.}}
* {{Cite web |date=9 May 2007 |title=ECLI:NL:GHSGR:2007:BA4676 |url=https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/#!/details?id=ECLI:NL:GHSGR:2007:BA4676 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701101921/https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/ |archive-date=1 July 2013 |website=de Rechtspraak |quote=the court points out that.. there are no documents in the file from which the findings and conclusions of the Special Rapporteur can be directly deduced and from which, in the context of criminal proceedings such as the present one, there are building blocks with a sufficient degree of certainty for a finding of fact in respect of genocide can be derived.}}}} Although many [[Iraqi Arabs]] reject that there were any mass killings of Kurdish civilians during Anfal,{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Interpretation of facts}} the event is an important element constituting [[Kurdish national identity]].

==Background==
{{expand section|date=August 2022}}
<!-- needs info about Kurdish Iraq conflict, Iran-Iraq war, relevant events that preceded 1988, planning the operation, etc. -->
Following the [[Iraqi invasion of Iran]] in 1980, the rival Kurdish opposition parties in Iraq—the [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan]] (PUK) and [[Kurdistan Democratic Party]] (KDP) as well as other smaller Kurdish parties—experienced a revival in their fortunes. Kurdish fighters ([[peshmerga]]) fought a guerrilla war against the Iraqi government and established effective control over the Kurdish-inhabited mountainous areas of northern Iraq. As the war went on and Iran counterattacked into Iraq, the peshmerga gained ground in most Kurdish-inhabited rural areas while also infiltrating towns and cities. In 1983, after [[Operation Karbala-7|the joint KDP-Iranian capture]] of [[Haj Omran]], the Iraqi government arrested 8,000 [[Barzani (tribe)|Barzani]] men and executed them. During the battle for Haj Omran, the Iraqi government also used gas weapons for the first time against both Kurdish and Iranian forces.{{sfn|Hiltermann|2008|loc=Context}}

== Name ==
"Al Anfal", literally meaning ''the spoils (of war)'',{{sfn|Montgomery|2001|p=70}} was used to describe the military campaign of extermination and looting against the Kurds. It is also the title of the [[Al-Anfal|eighth]] [[sura]], or chapter, of the Qur'an{{Sfn|Montgomery|2001|p=70}} which describes the victory of 313 followers of the new Muslim faith over almost 900 non-Muslims at the [[Battle of Badr]] in 624 AD. According to Randal, ''[[Jash (term)|Jash]]'' (Kurdish collaborators with the Baathists) were told that taking cattle, sheep, goats, money, weapons and even women was ''[[halal]]'' (religiously permitted or legal).<ref name="knowledge">{{Cite book |authorlink=Jonathan Randal|last=Randal |first=Jonathan C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YimNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT183 |title=After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness?: My Encounters With Kurdistan |date=2019-03-04 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-429-71113-8 |language=en}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2022}}

== Summary ==
The Anfal campaign began in February 1988 and continued until August or September and included the use of ground [[offensive (military)|offensives]], [[strategic bombing|aerial bombing]], [[chemical warfare]], systematic destruction of [[town|settlements]], [[mass deportation]] and firing squads. The campaign was headed by [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]] who was a cousin of Iraqi President [[Saddam Hussein]] from Saddam's hometown of [[Tikrit]].<ref name="Cruelty and Silence"/>

The Iraqi Army was supported by Kurdish collaborators whom the Iraqi government armed, the so-called ''[[Jash (term)|Jash]]'' forces, who led Iraqi troops to Kurdish villages that often did not figure on maps as well as to their hideouts in the mountains. The ''Jash'' forces frequently made false promises of amnesty and safe passage.{{sfn|Hardi|2011|p=17}} There were some [[Yazidis|Yazidi]] collaborators. The Iraqi government offered not to attack Yazidis if they participated in the Anfal campaign yet Yazidis were still a victim and target to the campaign.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Schmermund |editor-first=Elizabaeth |title= ISIS and the Yazidi Genocide in Iraq|publisher= Rosen Publishing Group, Incorporated |year=2017 |page=52 |isbn= 9781508178682|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cd1hDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Georgette F. |author2=White, Jerry |title=Religicide: Confronting the Roots of Anti-Religious Violence |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2023 |page=123 |isbn= 9781637581025 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cDeKEAAAQBAJ }}</ref> Yazidi special detachments were formed to "pursue and attack" Muslim Kurds. They were separate from the [[National Defense Battalions (Iraq)|NDB]], which consisted of Muslim Kurds.<ref name="Foreign Relations 2000. pp. 545">Annual Report on International Religious Freedom 2002: Report Submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate and the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives. United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. 2000. pp. 545</ref><ref name="Repression 1994, pp. 26">Bureaucracy of Repression: The Iraqi Government in Its Own Words, Joost R. Hiltermann, Human Rights Watch (Organization), 1994, pp. 26, {{ISBN|9781564321275}}</ref> There was also [[Yarsanism|Yarsani]] collaborators after some Yarsani religious leaders openly sided with the Iraqi government.<ref name="Near East 1995, pp. 171">Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East: Collected Papers of the International Symposium “Alevism in Turkey and Comparable Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East in the Past and Present”, Berlin, 14–17 April 1995, 2018, pp. 171, {{ISBN|9789004378988}}</ref> They were rather taken advantage of, as Ali Hassan al-Majid stated that "we must Arabize the area, and only real Arabs - not Yazidis who one day say that they are Kurds and the next that they are Arabs. We turned a blind eye to the Yazidi people joining the jahsh in the beginning, in order to stop the saboteurs from growing. But apart from that, what use are the Yazidis? No use."<ref>The Last Firman: The Genocidal Process of ISIS's Attempted Destruction of Yazidism in Iraq, pp. 2-3</ref> Iraqi state media extensively covered the ''Anfal'' campaign using its official name.<ref name="Cruelty and Silence"/> Approximately 1,200 Kurdish villages were destroyed during the ''Anfal'' campaign.<ref>{{cite book|last=Leezenberg|first=Michiel|title=Century of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts|chapter=The Anfal Operations in Iraqi Kurdistan|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2004|isbn=9780415944304|page=379|quote=In these operations alone, an estimated 1200 Kurdish villages were destroyed.}}</ref> To many Iraqis, ''Anfal'' was presented as an extension of the ongoing [[Iran–Iraq War]], although its victims were overwhelmingly Kurdish civilians.<ref name="Cruelty and Silence"/>

== Campaign {{anchor|The campaign}} ==
In March 1987, [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]] was appointed [[secretary-general]] of the Ba'ath Party's Northern Bureau,{{sfn|Hardi|2011|pp=16–17}} which included [[Iraqi Kurdistan]].
[[File:Exhumed Shoes of Child Victim of Anfal Genocide - 3rd International Conference on Mass Graves in Iraq - Erbil - Iraq.jpg|thumb|Footwear of a child found in an Anfal mass grave]]

=== Military operations and chemical attacks ===
Anfal, officially conducted in 1988, had eight phases (Anfal 1–Anfal 8) altogether, seven of which targeted areas controlled by the [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan]]. The [[Kurdish Democratic Party]]-controlled areas in the northwest [[Iraqi Kurdistan]], were the target of the Final Anfal operation in late August and early September 1988.

==== Anfal 1 ====
[[File:Monument at Mass Grave for 1500 Victims of 1988 Chemical Attack - Cemetery - Halabja - Kurdistan - Iraq - 01.jpg|thumb|Monument at the mass grave of victims of the [[Halabja chemical attack]]]]
The first Anfal stage was conducted between 23 February and 18 March 1988. It started with [[artillery]] and [[air strikes]] in the early hours of 23 February 1988. Then, several hours later, there were attacks at the [[Jafali Valley]] headquarters of the [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan]] near the Iranian border, and the command centers in Sargallu and Bargallu. There was heavy resistance by the [[Peshmerga]]. The battles were conducted in a theater around 1,154 square kilometres (445 sq. mi.).<ref name="google.com">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TA1qDAAAQBAJ|title=Nation Building in Kurdistan: Memory, Genocide and Human Rights|first=Mohammed|last=Ihsan|date=17 June 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-09016-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The villages of Gwezeela, Chalawi, Haladin and Yakhsamar were attacked with poison gas. During mid March, the PUK, in an alliance with Iranian troops and other Kurdish factions, captured Halabja.{{sfn|Hardi|2011|p=19}} This led to the [[Halabja massacre|poison gas attack on Halabja]] on 16 March 1988,{{sfn|Hardi|2011|p=19}} during which several thousand Kurdish people were killed, most of them civilians.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Joost Hiltermann|last=Hiltermann|first=Joost R.|title=A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2007|isbn=9780521876865|pages=2–3|quote=The precise death toll from the Halabja gas attack is unknown but thought to be several thousand. Out of an area population of 70-80,000 and with the reported intensity of the bombardment this was perhaps a remarkably small number.}}</ref>

==== Anfal 2 ====
During the second Anfal from 22 March and 2 April 1988, the Qara Dagh region, including Bazian and Darbandikhan, was targeted in the [[Sulaymaniyah Governorate|Suleimanya governorate]]. Again several villages were attacked with poison gas. Villages attacked with poisonous gas were Safaran, Sewsenan, Belekjar, Serko and Meyoo.<ref>[https://ilkha.com/english/analysis/today-marks-the-34th-anniversary-of-anfal-massacre-16366 Today marks the 34th anniversary of Anfal massacre  امروز سی و چهارمین سالگرد قتل عام انفال است] Retrieved 19 July 2025</ref> The attacks began on 22 March after [[Newroz as celebrated by Kurds|Newruz]], surprising the Peshmerga. Although of shorter duration, Peshmerga suffered more severe casualties in this attack than the first Anfal.<ref name="google.com"/> As a result of the attack, the majority of the population in the Qara Dagh region fled in the direction of Suleimanya. Many fugitives were detained by the Iraqi forces, and the men were separated from the women. The men were not seen again. The women were transported to camps. The population that managed to flee, fled to the Garmia region.{{sfn|Hardi|2011|pp=19–20}}

==== Anfal 3 ====
In the next Anfal campaign from 7 to 20 April 1988, the [[Garmian Region|Garmian region]] east of Suleimanya was targeted. In this campaign, many women and children disappeared. The only village attacked with chemical weapons was Tazashar. Many were lured to come towards the Iraqi forces due to an amnesty announced through a loudspeaker of a mosque in Qader Karam from 10 to 12 April. The announced amnesty was a trap, and many who surrendered were detained. Some civilians were able to bribe Kurdish collaborators of the Iraqi Army and fled to Laylan or Shorsh.{{sfn|Hardi|2011|p=20}} Before the Anfal campaign, the mainly rural Garmian region counted over 600 villages around the towns of [[Kifri]], [[Kalar, Iraq|Kalar]] and [[Darbandikhan]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Mlodoch |first=Karin |url=https://d-nb.info/1227692633/34 |title=The limits of Trauma discourse, Women Anfal survivors in Kurdistan-Iraq |publisher=[[Zentrum Moderner Orient]], Klaus Schwarz Verlag |location=[[Berlin]] |pages=167}}</ref>

==== Anfal 4 ====
Anfal 4 took place between 3–8 May 1988 in the valley of the [[Little Zab]], which forms the border of the provinces of [[Erbil Governorate|Erbil]] and [[Kirkuk Governorate|Kirkuk]]. The morale of the Iraqi army was on the rise due to the capture of the [[Al-Faw Peninsula|Faw Peninsula]] on the 17–18 April 1988 from Iran in the [[Iran–Iraq War]].{{sfn|Black|1993|pp=171–172}} Major poisonous gas attacks were perpetrated in Askar and Goptapa.{{sfn|Black|1993|pp=172–176}} Again it was announced an amnesty was issued, which turned out to be false. Many of the ones who surrendered were arrested. Men were separated from the women.{{sfn|Hardi|2011|p=21}}

==== Anfal 5, 6 and 7 ====
In these three consecutive attacks between 15 May and 16 August 1988, the valleys of [[Rawandiz]] and Shaqlawa were targeted, and the attacks had different successes. The Anfal 5 failed completely; therefore, two more attacks were necessary to gain Iraqi government control over the valleys. The Peshmerga commander of the region, [[Kosrat Abdullah]], was well prepared for a long siege with stores of ammunition and food. He also reached an agreement with the Kurdish collaborators of the Iraqi Army so that the civilians could flee. Hiran, Balisan, Smaquli, Malakan, Shek Wasan, Ware, Seran and Kaniba were attacked with poisonous gas. After the Anfal 7 attack, the valleys were under the control of the Iraqi government.{{sfn|Hardi|2011|p=21}}

==== Anfal 8 ====
The last Anfal was aimed at the region controlled by the [[Kurdistan Democratic Party|KDP]] named Badinan and took place from 25 August to 6 September 1988. In this campaign, the villages of Wirmeli, Barkavreh, Bilejane, Glenaska, Zewa Shkan, Tuka and Ikmala were targeted with chemical attacks. After tens of thousands of Kurds fled to Turkey, the Iraqi Army blocked the route to Turkey on 26 August 1988. The population who did not manage to flee was arrested, and the men were separated from the women and children. The men were executed, and the women and children were brought to camps.{{sfn|Hardi|2011|pp=21–22}}

=== Detention camps ===
Detention camps were established to accommodate thousands of prisoners. Dibs was a detention camp for women and children and located near an army training facility for the Iraqi commando forces.<ref>Black, George, (1993), pp. 222–223</ref> From Dibs, groups of detainees were transferred to [[Nugra Salman]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Black |first1=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qidfVsS-z8YC&dq=Nugra+Salman&pg=PA226 |title=Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds |last2=Staff |first2=Middle East Watch |last3=Watch (Organization) |first3=Middle East |date=1993 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=978-1-56432-108-4 |pages=226 |language=en}}</ref> in a [[Depression (geology)|depression]] in the desert about 120&nbsp;km southwest of [[Samawah]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Sissakian |first=Varoujan K. |date=January 2020 |title=Origins and Utilizations of the Main Natural Depressions in Iraq |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-abandoned-most-notorious-prisons-in-Iraq-Nugrat-Al-Salman-which-was-constructed_fig3_338188141 |website=[[ResearchGate]] |pages=23–24}}</ref> in the [[Muthanna Governorate]]. Nugra Salman held an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 prisoners during the Anfal campaign.<ref name=":1" /> Another detention camp was Topzawa near an army base near the highway leading out of Kirkuk.<ref>Black, George, (1993), p.209</ref>

=== Arabization ===
[[Arabization]], another major element of al-Anfal, was a tactic used by Saddam Hussein's regime to drive pro-insurgent populations out of their homes in villages and cities like [[Kirkuk]], which are in the valuable [[oil field]] areas, and relocate them in the southern parts of Iraq.{{sfn|Black|1993|p=36}} The campaign used heavy [[population transfer|population redistribution]], most notably in Kirkuk, the results of which now plague negotiations between Iraq's [[Shi'a]] [[United Iraqi Alliance]] and the Kurdish [[Kurdistani Alliance]]. Saddam's Ba'athist regime built several public housing facilities in Kirkuk as part of his "Arabisation", shifting poor [[Arabs]] from Iraq's southern regions to Kirkuk with the lure of inexpensive housing. Another part of the Arabisation campaign was the census of October 1987. Citizens who failed to turn up for the October 1987 census were no longer recognized as Iraqi citizens. Most of the Kurdish population who learned that a census was taking place did not take part in the census.{{sfn|Hardi|2011|pp=16–17}}

==Death toll==
Precise figures of Anfal victims do not exist due to lack of records.{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Victims}} In its 1993 report, [[Human Rights Watch]] wrote that the death toll "cannot conceivably be less than 50,000, and it may well be twice that number".{{sfn|Black|1993|p=345}}{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Victims}} This figure was based on an earlier survey by the [[Sulaymaniyah]]–based Kurdish organization Committee for the Defence of Anfal Victims' Rights.{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Victims}} According to HRW, Kurdish leaders met with Iraqi government official [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]] in 1991 and mentioned a figure of 182,000 deaths; the latter reportedly replied that "it couldn't have been more than 100,000".{{sfn|Black|1993|p=345}}{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Victims}} The 182,000 figure provided by the PUK was based on extrapolation<ref name="Cruelty and Silence">{{cite book|authorlink=Kanan Makiya|last=Makiya|first=Kanan|title=Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising, and the Arab World|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|year=1994|isbn=9780393311419|pages=163–168}}</ref> and "has no empirical relation to actual disappearances or killings",{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Victims}} though it "has assumed mythical status among Kurds".<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Joost Hiltermann|last=Hiltermann|first=Joost R.|title=A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2007|isbn=9780521876865|page=134}}</ref> In 1995, the Committee for the Defence of Anfal Victims' Rights released a report documenting 63,000 disappeared and stating that the entire death toll was lower than 70,000, with almost all these deaths occurring in the area of Anfal III.{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Victims}} According to Hiltermann, the figure of 100,000, although considered too low by many Kurds, is probably higher than the actual number of deaths.{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Victims}}

== Aftermath ==
In September 1988, the Iraqi government was satisfied with its achievements. The male population between 15 and 50 had either been killed or fled. {{dubious|date=August 2022}} The Kurdish resistance fled to Iran and was no longer a threat to Iraq. An amnesty was issued, and the detained women, children and elderly were released{{sfn|Hardi|2011|p=22}}  but not permitted to return.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Mlodoch |first=Karin |date=2012 |title="We Want to be Remembered as Strong Women, Not as Shepherds": Women Anfal Survivors in Kurdistan-Iraq Struggling for Agency and Acknowledgement |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/jmiddeastwomstud.8.1.63 |journal=Journal of Middle East Women's Studies |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=65 |doi=10.2979/jmiddeastwomstud.8.1.63 |jstor=10.2979/jmiddeastwomstud.8.1.63 |s2cid=145055297 |issn=1552-5864 }}</ref> They were sent into camps known as ''mujamm'at'' where they lived under military rule until a regional autonomy for Iraqi Kurdistan was achieved in 1991.<ref name=":0" /> Following, most survivors returned, and began to reconstruct the villages.<ref name=":0" /> In Kurdish society, the Anfal survivors are known as Anfal mothers ([[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]: ''Daykan-î Enfal)'', Anfal relatives ([[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]: ''Kes-u-kar-î Enfal)'' or Anfal widows ([[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]: ''Bewajin-î Enfal)''.<ref name=":0" />

== Trials ==
Human Rights Watch unsuccessfully attempted to attract support for a lawsuit under the [[Genocide Convention]] against Iraq at the [[International Court of Justice]]. It convinced the United States [[Department of State]]'s legal bureau that Anfal met the legal criteria for genocide.{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Interpretation of facts}}

=== Frans van Anraat ===
In December 2005, a court in [[The Hague]] convicted [[Frans van Anraat]] of complicity in war crimes for his role in selling chemical weapons to the Iraqi government. He was given a 15-year sentence.<ref name="BBCHague">{{Cite news |date=2005-12-23 |title=Killing of Iraq Kurds 'genocide' |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4555000.stm |access-date=2022-07-31}}</ref> The court also ruled that the killing of thousands of Kurds in Iraq in the 1980s was indeed an act of genocide.<ref name="BBCHague" /> In the 1948 [[Genocide Convention]], the definition of genocide is "acts committed with the [[genocidal intent|intent to destroy]], in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group". The Dutch court said that it was considered "legally and convincingly proven that the Kurdish population meets the requirement under the Genocide Conventions as an [[ethnic group]]. The court has no other conclusion than that these attacks were committed with the intent to destroy the Kurdish population of Iraq".<ref name="BBCHague" />

During another trial involving the legal appeal of Van Anraat, [[The Hague]] appellate court upheld the previous conviction of his complicity in war crimes; but ruled that actions of [[Iraqi military]] during Anfal operations cannot be regarded as constituting a "[[genocide]]".<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 June 2007 |title=Dutch Court Concludes Anfal Campaign Wasn't Genocide |url=http://opiniojuris.org/2007/05/19/dutch-court-concludes-anfal-campaign-wasnt-genocide/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008055522/http://opiniojuris.org/2007/05/19/dutch-court-concludes-anfal-campaign-wasnt-genocide/ |archive-date=8 October 2009 |website=OpinioJuris |quote=The appellate court, however, did not simply conclude that van Anraat was unaware of Saddam's genocidal plan. It also held that the Anfal campaign did not amount to genocide. In its written judgment, the appeals panel said there was insufficient evidence to establish that the poison gas attacks on Kurdish villages in 1987 and 1988 amounted to genocide.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gottlieb |first=Sebastian |date=10 May 2007 |title=Van Anraat case 'example' |work=Radio Netherlands |url=https://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/anr070510mc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070908064822/https://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/anr070510mc |archive-date=8 September 2007 |quote=In contrast to the original court judgement, the Court of Appeal concluded that the events in Northern Iraq weren't genocide.}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web |date=9 May 2007 |title=ECLI:NL:GHSGR:2007:BA4676 |url=https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/#!/details?id=ECLI:NL:GHSGR:2007:BA4676 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701101921/https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/ |archive-date=1 July 2013 |website=de Rechtspraak |quote=the court points out that Van der Stoel stated as a witness that he based his highly relevant reports on human rights violations in Iraq, H74 and H75, on "a large stream of documents, fourteen tons" while, with the exception of a few appendices to those reports, there are no documents in the file from which the findings and conclusions of the Special Rapporteur can be directly deduced and from which, in the context of criminal proceedings such as the present one, there are building blocks with a sufficient degree of certainty for a finding of fact in respect of genocide can be derived.}}</ref> The verdict of the Hague Court of Appeal stated in 9 May 2007 that tons of Iraqi documents collected by US government, based on which the [[Human Rights Watch]] produced its reports, were not enough to establish "a sufficient degree of certainty for a finding of fact in respect of [[genocide]] can be derived".<ref name="auto"/>

=== Saddam Hussein ===
{{Main|Trial of Saddam Hussein}}
[[File:Street View of Rizgary - Former Sumud Relocation Camp for Anfal Genocide Survivors - Kurdistan - Iraq.jpg|thumb|[[Rizgary]], former Sumud relocation camp for Anfal survivors (photographed 2011)]]In an interview broadcast on Iraqi television on 6 September 2005, Iraqi President [[Jalal Talabani]], a Kurdish politician of the [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan]], said that judges had directly extracted [[confession (law)|confessions]] from Saddam Hussein that he had ordered [[mass killing]]s and other crimes during his regime and that he deserves to die. Two days later, Saddam's lawyer denied that he had confessed.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4225182.stm Lawyer denies Saddam confession] BBC News, 8 September 2005</ref>

=== Anfal trial ===
In June 2006, the [[Iraqi Special Tribunal]] announced that Saddam Hussein and six co-defendants would face trial on 21 August 2006 in relation to the Anfal campaign.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070913222734/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/i_latestdetail.asp?id=39304 Iraqi High Tribunal announces second Saddam trial to open] Associated Press, 27 June 2006</ref> In December 2006, Saddam was put on trial for the genocide during Operation Anfal. The trial for the Anfal campaign was still underway on 30 December 2006, when [[execution of Saddam Hussein|Saddam Hussein was executed]] for his role in the unrelated [[Dujail massacre]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/world/middleeast/30hussein.html Dictator Who Ruled Iraq With Violence Is Hanged for Crimes Against Humanity] ''The New York Times'', 30 December 2006</ref>

The Anfal trial recessed on 21 December 2006, and when it resumed on 8 January 2007, the remaining charges against Saddam Hussein were dropped. Six co-defendants continued to stand trial for their roles in the Anfal campaign. On 23 June 2007, [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]], and two co-defendants, [[Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai|Sultan Hashem Ahmed]] and [[Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti|Hussein Rashid Mohammed]], were convicted of genocide and related charges and sentenced to death by [[hanging]].<ref name="hang">{{Cite news|url=https://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/25/Worldandnation/Iraq_to_hang__Chemica.shtml |title=Iraq to hang 'Chemical Ali' |author=Omar Sinan |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Tampa Bay Times]] |date=25 June 2007 |access-date=3 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017073732/https://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/25/Worldandnation/Iraq_to_hang__Chemica.shtml |archive-date=17 October 2015 }}</ref> Another two co-defendants ([[Farhan Jubouri]] and [[Saber Abdel Aziz al-Douri]]) were sentenced to [[life imprisonment]], and one ([[Taher Tawfiq al-Ani]]) was acquitted on the prosecution's demand.<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/24/iraq.ali/index.html 'Chemical Ali' sentenced to hang] CNN, 24 June 2007</ref>

Al-Majid was charged with [[war crime]]s, [[crimes against humanity]] and [[genocide]]. He was convicted in June 2007 and was [[capital punishment in Iraq|sentenced to death]]. His appeal for the death sentence was rejected on 4 September 2007. He was sentenced to death for the fourth time on 17 January 2010 and was [[hanging|hanged]] eight days later, on 25 January 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/7072155/Saddam-Husseins-henchman-Chemical-Ali-executed.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/7072155/Saddam-Husseins-henchman-Chemical-Ali-executed.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Saddam Hussein's henchman 'Chemical Ali' executed |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=25 January 2010 |access-date=31 August 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Sultan Hashem Ahmed was not hanged due to opposition of the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who opposed capital punishment.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/iraqi-president-opposes-minister-s-hanging-1.960479|title=Iraqi president opposes minister's hanging|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=17 March 2020}}</ref>

The Anfal trial was widely criticized for its methodical defects marked by various acts of political meddling from the [[Iraqi government]]. These involved the sacking of its presiding judge in September 2006 by [[Prime Minister of Iraq|Iraqi Prime Minister]] [[Nouri al-Maliki]]; who perceived the judge as biased towards defendants. [[Human Rights Watch]] stated that many of the charges were "vague" and concluded that the defendants were unable to bring their witnesses due to safety issues within [[Iraq]]. Video interactions from witnesses of the [[defendant]]s were also denied by the court; thus hampering the defendants' ability to challenge the claims of the prosecutors. The trial was marked by absence of fundamental [[judicial proceedings]], such as the murder of three defense lawyers and ample utilization of anonymous witnesses by the [[Prosecutor|prosecution]]; whose claims couldn't be cross-analyzed by the defendants.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 June 2007 |title=Iraq: Dujail Judgment Marred by Serious Flaws |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2007/06/21/iraq-dujail-judgment-marred-serious-flaws |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323230219/https://www.hrw.org/news/2007/06/21/iraq-dujail-judgment-marred-serious-flaws |archive-date=23 March 2023 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=24 June 2007 |title=Convictions in the Anfal Trial |url=http://opiniojuris.org/2007/06/24/convictions-in-the-anfal-trial/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814002744/http://opiniojuris.org/2007/06/24/convictions-in-the-anfal-trial/ |archive-date=14 August 2022 |website=Opinio Juris}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=22 June 2007 |title=Q & A: The Anfal Trial |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2007/06/22/q-anfal-trial |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001154754/https://www.hrw.org/news/2007/06/22/q-anfal-trial |archive-date=1 October 2022 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> Both within and outside Iraq, the trials by the [[Iraqi special tribunal|Special Tribunal]] have been widely dubbed as a "show parade" designed to [[Execution of Saddam Hussein|execute Saddam]] and deemed as illegitimate by numerous lawyers and human rights organizations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ashok |first=Abhinav |date=5 July 2020 |title=Iraq Under Saddam Hussein and His Flawed Trial |url=https://www.legalbites.in/iraq-saddam-hussein-flawed-trial?infinitescroll=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611072101/https://www.legalbites.in/iraq-saddam-hussein-flawed-trial?infinitescroll=1 |archive-date=11 June 2023 |website=Legal Bites}}</ref>

== Sources ==
There have been few publications about the Anfal campaign and as of 2008, the only comprehensive account of it is that which was published by Human Rights Watch.{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Bibliography}} HRW's 1993 report on Anfal was based on Iraqi documents, examination of grave sites, and interviews with Kurdish survivors.{{sfn|Black|1993|p=28}}

In 1993, the United States government collected 18 tons of Iraqi government documents which were captured by the Peshmerga during the 1991 uprising and airlifted them to the United States.{{sfn|Montgomery|2001|pp=78–79}} In those files, HRW conducted research on the Anfal campaign in collaboration with United States federal government agencies such as the [[National Archives and Records Administration]] (NARA), the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]], and the [[The Pentagon|Defense Department]].{{sfn|Montgomery|2001|pp=78–79}} The US government provided Arabic translators and [[CD-ROM|CD ROM]] scanners.{{sfn|Montgomery|2001|pp=78–79}} HRW accepted the US government role under the condition that personnel involved worked under its direction.{{sfn|Montgomery|2001|pp=78–79}} The files include documents which were collected by the Kurdish parties PUK and KDP, both parties hold the ultimate ownership of the documents that were airlifted to the US.{{sfn|Montgomery|2001|pp=78–79}}

[[File:السليمانية....امنيه سوراكيه.jpg|thumb|Memorial to Anfal victims at the [[Amna Suraka]] museum in [[Sulaimaniyya]]]]
In exchange for access to the National Archives documents, HRW agreed to help the United States government find information about Iraqi atrocities. Joost Hiltermann, HRW's lead researcher on Anfal, referred to these files as "the good stuff…material to smear the enemy with".<ref name="Weaponizing" /> [[Kanan Makiya]], an Iraqi–American academic and pro-Iraq War advocate,<ref>{{cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |date=25 March 2007 |title=We failed, says pro-war Iraqi |language=en |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/mar/25/iraq.peterbeaumont |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref> criticized HRW for promising that the records proved genocide. He warned that the records contained neither "smoking guns" nor do they contain records of the "explosive nature" as HRW claimed. Furthermore, he said that certain documents that seemed incriminating could have been planted by Kurdish rebels.<ref name="Weaponizing">{{cite magazine |last=Alshaibi |first=Wisam |title=Weaponizing Iraq's Archives |magazine=Middle East Report |edition=291 (Summer 2019) |url=https://merip.org/2019/09/weaponizing-iraqs-archives/}}</ref> After the invasion of Iraq, Makiya said in December 2003 that the Iraqi document archives contained no "smoking gun" to convict Saddam Hussein of war crimes.{{sfn|Pelletiere|2016|p=62}}

After the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, mass graves were discovered in parts of western Iraq that had been under Ba'athist control.{{sfn|Hiltermann|2008|loc=Victims}}

== Commemoration ==
The event has become an important element in the constitution of [[Kurdish national identity]].{{sfn|Cockrell-Abdullah |2018|p=70}} The [[Kurdistan Regional Government]] has set aside 14 April as a day of remembrance for the Al-Anfal campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cabinet.gov.krd/a/d.aspx?s=010000&l=12&a=17470|title=Anfal campaign receives national day of remembrance|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107074855/http://cabinet.gov.krd/a/d.aspx?s=010000&l=12&a=17470|archive-date=7 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> In [[Sulaymaniyah|Sulaymanya]] a museum was established in the [[Amna Suraka|former prison]] of the [[Directorate of General Security]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Majid |first=Bareez |title=The Museum of Amna Suraka: a Critical Case Study of Kurdistani Memory Culture |url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2020/11/whats-new-fall-2020-bareez-majid |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=[[Leiden University]] |language=en}}</ref> 

In 2014, a [[Germany|German]] organization in [[Sulaymaniyah|Sulaimani]] agreed with [[Kurdish population|Kurdish]] [[artist]] and [[Sculpture|sculptor]] [[Shwan Kamal]] to build a [[monument]] and sculpture in [[Beth Garmai|Garmian]] region for Anfal.<ref>[[:ckb:شاڵاوی ئەنفال|Länktext]], ytterligare text.</ref><ref>[https://www.google.se/search?q=%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86+%DA%A9%DB%95%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84+%D8%A6%DB%95%D9%86%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%84&sca_esv=7fcdb3edaabbf89a&bih=865&biw=1600&hl=sv&sxsrf=ADLYWIJkFimy0G1ksgVFHahd9bE-mdZvNw%3A1714807549124&ei=_eI1Zp2ZB-3ewPAPls-e4As&udm=&ved=0ahUKEwjdi8v2u_OFAxVtLxAIHZanB7wQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86+%DA%A9%DB%95%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84+%D8%A6%DB%95%D9%86%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%84&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiINi02YjYp9mGINqp25XZhdin2YQg2KbbldmG2YHYp9mEMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAFIhxlQ2g1Y2g1wAXgAkAEAmAHKAaABygGqAQMyLTG4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgGgAs8BmAMAiAYBkgcDMi0xoAehAg&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&ip=1&vld=cid:795552db,vid:UkDolG26aXY,st:0 Länktext], ytterligare text.</ref>

== Later perspectives ==

The campaign is considered a genocide by the [[International Association of Genocide Scholars]],<ref name="IAGS">{{cite web |url=https://genocidescholars.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IAGS-Resolution-Kurdish-Genocide-2023.pdf |title=Resolution to Declare that Massacres and Persecution of Iraqi Kurds were Crimes of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity |date=3 November 2023}}</ref> Various official bodies in Iraq have declared it a genocide, including the [[Iraqi Special Tribunal]], the [[Council of Representatives of Iraq]], [[Presidency Council of Iraq]], and [[Federal Supreme Court of Iraq]].<ref name="IAGS" />
It has also been declared a genocide by the legislatures of the United Kingdom,<ref>{{cite web |date=March 2013 |title=Historic Debate Secures Parliamentary Recognition of the Kurdish Genocide |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/gary-kent/parliamentary-recognition-of-the-kurdish-genocide_b_2789300.html |access-date=31 August 2013 |work=[[Huffington Post]]}}</ref> Norway, Sweden, and South Korea.<ref name="IAGS" />

Many [[Iraqi Arabs]] reject that any mass killings of Kurds occurred during the Anfal campaign.{{sfn| Hiltermann|2008|loc=Interpretation of facts}}

== See also ==
* [[Genocide of Yazidis by the Islamic State]]

== References ==
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
*{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=George |title=Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds |date=1993 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=978-1-56432-108-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qidfVsS-z8YC&q=50%2C000 |language=en}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Cockrell-Abdullah |first1=Autumn |title=Constituting Histories Through Culture In Iraqi Kurdistan |journal=Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies |year=2018 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=65–91 |doi=10.13169/zanjglobsoutstud.2.1.0065 |jstor=10.13169/zanjglobsoutstud.2.1.0065 |issn=2515-2130|doi-access=free }}
*{{cite book |last1=Hardi |first1=Choman |title=Gendered Experiences of Genocide: Anfal Survivors in Kurdistan-Iraq |date=2011 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4094-9008-1 |language=en}}
*{{cite web |last1=Hiltermann |first1=Joost |title=The 1988 Anfal Campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan |url=https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/1988-anfal-campaign-iraqi-kurdistan.html |website=Mass Violence & Resistance |publisher=[[Sciences Po]] |access-date=28 February 2022 |language=en |year=2008}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Kirmanj |first1=Sherko |last2=Rafaat |first2=Aram |title=The Kurdish genocide in Iraq: the Security-Anfal and the Identity-Anfal |journal=National Identities |year=2021 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=163–183 |doi=10.1080/14608944.2020.1746250|bibcode=2021NatId..23..163K |s2cid=<!-- 216482100 --> |issn=1460-8944 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Montgomery |first1=Bruce P. |title=The Iraqi Secret Police Files: A Documentary Record of the Anfal Genocide |journal=Archivaria |date=2001 |pages=69–99 |url=https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12815 |language=en |issn=1923-6409}}
*{{cite book |last=Pelletiere| first=Stephen| title=Oil and the Kurdish Question: How Democracies Go to War in the Era of Late Capitalism | year=2016|publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-4985-1666-2 |language=en}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Baser |first1=Bahar |last2=Toivanen |first2=Mari |title=The politics of genocide recognition: Kurdish nation-building and commemoration in the post-Saddam era |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |year=2017 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=404–426 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2017.1338644|hdl=10138/325889 |s2cid=58142027 |url=https://pure.coventry.ac.uk/ws/files/13770301/Baser_and_Toivanen_Final_Submission_Anfal_1.6.2017_1_.pdf |hdl-access=free }}
*{{cite book |last1=Donabed |first1=Sargon |title=Reforging a Forgotten History: Iraq and the Assyrians in the Twentieth Century |date=2015 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-8603-2 |language=en}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Fischer-Tahir |first1=Andrea |title=Gendered Memories and Masculinities: Kurdish Peshmerga on the Anfal Campaign in Iraq |journal=Journal of Middle East Women's Studies |year=2012 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=92–114 |doi=10.2979/jmiddeastwomstud.8.1.92|s2cid=143526869 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Hamarafiq |first1=Rebeen |title=Cultural Responses to the Anfal and Halabja Massacres |journal=Genocide Studies International |year=2019 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=132–142 |doi=10.3138/gsi.13.1.07|s2cid=208688723 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Leurs |first1=Rob |title=Reliving genocide: the work of Kurdish genocide victims in the Court of Justice |journal=Critical Arts |date=2011 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=296–303 |doi=10.1080/02560046.2011.569081|s2cid=143839339 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Mlodoch |first1=Karin |title=The Limits of Trauma Discourse: Women Anfal Survivors in Kurdistan-Iraq |date=2021 |publisher=de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-240283-2 |language=en}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Muhammad |first1=Kurdistan Omar |last2=Hama |first2=Hawre Hasan |last3=Hama Karim |first3=Hersh Abdallah |title=Memory and trauma in the Kurdistan genocide |journal=Ethnicities |date=2022 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=426–448 |doi=10.1177/14687968221103254|s2cid=248910712 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Sadiq |first1=Ibrahim |title=Origins of the Kurdish Genocide: Nation Building and Genocide as a Civilizing and De-Civilizing Process |date=2021 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-7936-3683-6 |language=en}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Szanto |first1=Edith |title=Mourning Halabja on Screen: Or Reading Kurdish Politics through Anfal Films |journal=Review of Middle East Studies |year=2018 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=135–146 |doi=10.1017/rms.2018.3|s2cid=158673771 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Toivanen |first1=Mari |last2=Baser |first2=Bahar |title=Remembering the Past in Diasporic Spaces: Kurdish Reflections on Genocide Memorialization for Anfal |journal=Genocide Studies International |year=2019 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=10–33 |doi=10.3138/gsi.13.1.02|hdl=10138/321880 |s2cid=166812947 |hdl-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Trahan |first1=Jennifer |title=A Critical Guide to the Iraqi High Tribunal's ANFAL Judgment: Genocide against the Kurds |journal=Michigan Journal of International Law |date=2008–2009 |volume=30 |pages=305 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/mjil30&div=12&id=&page=}}

{{Saddam Hussein}}
{{Genocide topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1988 in Iraqi Kurdistan]]
[[Category:Arabization]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1988]]
[[Category:Genocide of indigenous peoples in Asia]]
[[Category:Massacres committed by Iraq]]
[[Category:Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War involving chemical weapons]]
[[Category:Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War involving the Peshmerga]]
[[Category:Persecution of Kurds in Iraq]]
[[Category:War crimes in the Iran–Iraq War]]
[[Category:Massacres of Kurds]]
[[Category:Persecution of Assyrians in Iraq]]
[[Category:Violence against men in Asia]]
[[Category:Iraqi–Kurdish conflict]]
[[Category:Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War in 1988]]
[[Category:20th-century mass murder in Iraq]]
[[Category:Saddam Hussein]]
[[Category:Military campaigns involving Iraq]]
[[Category:Massacres in Iraqi Kurdistan]]