Families gather in Dubz to remember Kurdish children lost in Anfal genocide

KIRKUK – Families of Anfal genocide victims gathered Sunday at the Anfal Children’s Cemetery in the Dubz district of Kirkuk to honor the memory of hundreds of children who died during the third and fourth phases of the 1988 genocide campaign.

Activists estimate that between 400 and 600 children perished at the Dubz military site due to malnutrition and disease. Only 106 sets of remains have been recovered and reburied so far.

The Anfal campaign, conducted between Feb. 22 and Sept. 6, 1988, was a systematic genocide orchestrated by Iraq’s Ba’ath regime targeting the Kurdish population. The campaign involved eight phases and led to the mass killing of an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Kurds, according to a 1993 Human Rights Watch report. Kurdish sources believe the number could be as high as 182,000.

Hemin Haseeb, an activist in the field of Anfal and genocide, told 964media that during the campaign, Ba’ath regime forces separated women and children from men in Topzawa and transferred them to the Dubz military site, where many died after being held for about eight months. “Later, the bodies were handed over to locals and buried in Dubz,” he said.

The remains of the 106 children have since been reburied at the Chamchamal monument, while over 400 remain unidentified. “We hope the rest of the graves will be found. Additionally, this site should be preserved as a symbol of the Anfal victims,” Haseeb said.

He added that the first children were buried in one section of the cemetery, but when it became full, others were buried elsewhere, often without accurate records. Many families still do not know where their children are buried.

The cemetery is part of a public burial ground that contains the remains of others as well. Most victims buried here are from areas affected during the third and fourth phases of the Anfal campaign, including Qader Karam, Kalar, Duz Khurmatu, Kifri, Sangaw, Shwan, Koya, Taqtaq, Khalkhalan, and Agjalar, along with victims from Dukan and Qaradagh.

Nayla Mohammed, a relative of Anfal victims, said all those buried in this section were children. “After they died, locals buried them. On some days, we had five children’s bodies,” she said.

Witness Hassan Mohammed recalled seeing children’s bodies daily. “One time, when a child died, the mother entered the grave and was forcibly pulled out. She said, ‘Let me be buried with my child’,” he said. “She didn’t want to live anymore after losing them.”

Khalid Amin, an elderly witness from Dubz, told 964media that he saw many Kurdish children die and be buried during the Anfal genocide. He participated in preparing and burying the bodies at the time, and said families still come to him today for help identifying the graves of their loved ones.

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