Koya in The Fourth Campaign Of Anfal A study in Oral Histoty

Abstract

This study sheds light on Anfal campaign in Kaya district, its sub-districts, and villages which was carried out against Kurdish people in several stages by the Iraqi Ba’athist government from February 23 to September 6, 1998. In the so- called Stage Four of Anfal, from the third to seventh of May, 1998, all the villages of Koya were subject to Anfal and razed to the ground and the residents of the villages of Klesa, Gomashin, and Kanirash were arrested and exposed to Anfal in their own villages. In Koya Anfal, the only defence of Peshmarga forces was in Sitaghar Mountain in which nine Peshmargas were killed. On May 5, 1998, Koya, as the first city in Kurdistan, was prone to Anfal as many people had previously headed to Koya from all the villages. They were arrested as a result of searching Koya neighborhoods and houses of the Mustashars (political advisors who were assigned by the Ba'ath Regime to lead Kurdish mercenaries).This day is known as mass arrest in Koya. The Anfal victims were gathered in several stations in Koya, and then taken to Tobzawa in Kirkuk and from there they were transferred to Nugra Salaman. As a result of Anfal campaign in Koya area, 851 people went missing and didn’t return. This caused many economic, social, and psychological problems for the families of the Anfal victims and its effects are still persistent and will continue to persist.