Shafaq News / The federal government in Baghdad must fulfill its obligations towards victims of Anfal operations committed by the former regime in the eighties of the last century era, President of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Nachirvan Barzani said.

Under the banner of (tears towards hope), Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal in KRG organized on Tuesday a ceremony to commemorate the 26th anniversary of bombing ​​ Balisan valley , Sheikh and Sanan areas in Balisan sub-district located about 80 km north of Erbil city , attended by “Shafaq News”.

The ceremony was attended by Mr. Nachirvan Barzani, a number of ministers, party members, government officials and relatives of Anfal victims.

Barzani said in his speech that “the Iraqi government must fulfill its obligations issued by the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Court’s decisions after it had approved that the crimes committed against our people are genocide crimes”.

“KRG estimated the losses of the region due to Anfal operations and genocide by about $ 9 billion,” calling “the Iraqi government to allocate a budget to compensate the victims’ families”.

“The effects of used chemical weapons against our people are still clear in the region,” Barzani added.

Barzani praised the role of the people of the region, during the eighties era and their resistance to the former regime, saying that “shelling that area was a crime committed against our people as the former regime did not stop at this point; but injured survivors seeking treatment at hospitals were taken away by the security forces and many were never seen again.

KRG decided 26 of April of bombing Balisan valley, Sheikh and Sanan areas as an environmental days in Kurdistan to let people of the region to work more to protect the beautiful nature of this area.

It is worth mentioning that Balisan valley, Sheikh and Sanan areas were bombed by warplanes and chemical weapons in 16/04/1987, killed 222 people and more than 400 injured as some of the injured people still suffer from those injuries.

Mean while more than 4,000 Kurds were killed in a similar attack at Halabja a year later, Saddam dismissed accusations of genocide, saying Iranian forces, with which Iraq was intermittently at war from 1980-88, were the target.

Unlike Halabja, the Balisan valley is far from the Iran border and villagers as the former government forces arrived the next day after the bombing trying to force people to state in front of TV cameras that the bombs were dropped by Iranian planes.