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, Salih’s office said.

They were among nearly 182,000 people who have been killed during Saddam’s “Anfal” campaign that targeted Kurds in the late 1980s when chemical gas was used, villages were razed and 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,” Salih told a news conference at the grave site, Reuters reported.

“He brought them to Samawa to bury them but our people in Samawa embraced them,” Salih added. Iraq’s southern provinces are predominantly inhabited by Shia Arabs, who also suffered oppression and mass killings under Saddam, a Sunni Arab.

“The new Iraq must never forget these crimes that were committed against Iraqi people from all groups,” he said.

In the Kurdistan Region, Kurds commemorated the 31th anniversary of the Anfal campaign on Sunday. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) recognized April 14 as the commemoration day of Anfal in 2007.

Reporter’s code: 50101