Iraqi President Visits Mass Grave of Kurds Killed During Saddam Hussein Era

Iraqi President Barham Salih was among officials to visit on April 14 a mass grave found in the desert west of the city of Samawah. Officials said the grave contained the bodies of Kurds killed by the forces of Saddam Hussein in the late 1980s.

Tens of thousands of Kurds were killed by Hussein’s forces during the final months of the Iran-Iraq war. Human Rights Watch has estimated between 50,000 and 100,000 died. Kurdish officials say up to 182,000 people could have died.

Salih, himself a Kurd and the former leader of the Kurdish regional government, said Iraq could “never forget” the crimes. Credit: Barham Salih via Storyful