NRT reported that the families of the victims and officials marked the occasion in Kalar, Chamchamal, and Halabja in the Kurdistan Region.

The Anfal campaign, launched and led by Ba’ath Party Secretary-General Ali Hassan al-Majid – also known as Chemical Ali – is widely understood to have begun in 1988. Ground offensives, aerial bombardments, systematic destruction of villages, and mass deportations were used as part of the campaign.

The Anfal process started with eight stages and killed nearly 182,000 Kurdish people. Nearly 4,300 villages were also destroyed.

In 2007, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) recognized April 14 as the commemoration day of the Anfal campaign.

The same year, an Iraqi tribunal sentenced Majeed to death for his part in directing the campaign. He was hanged in 2010, according to Reuters.

KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said in a statement on Sunday that the government should assist the families of the victims, reconstruct towns that were destroyed, improve the living conditions of those affected.

“Healing the wound of Anfal and compensating them must be the main duty of the Iraqi government. This is a moral and historical responsibility,” he said.

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