Mass grave of Kurd remains shown to relatives in Iraq's Anfal anniversary

A mass grave of Kurds killed by Iraq's former leader's forces three decades ago was unearthed. It was discovered in the desert about 170 kilometres west of the city of Samawa.

Some of the remains were shown to relatives.

President Barham Salih said Iraq must never forget Saddam Hussein's crimes.

''It is the annual memory of such criminal acts which were committed by the former regime of Saddam Hussein. We come here to discover a new revelation of a terrible crime, it is an extension of the Anfal crimes.''

President Salih added, ''This crime is a war crime and a crime of genocide against people who were not guilty of anything except being Kurds. And the criminal and racist, old regime deemed them a danger to its domination and power, so it annihilated them - men, women, elderly and children.''

The remains were part of at least 180,000 people who may have been killed during Saddam's "Anfal" campaign, according to the President's office. It targeted Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s when chemical gas was used.