The first session of the historic trial of defendant Ajaj Ahmed Hardan Al-Tikriti, one of the most prominent faces accused in the Anfal campaign crimes committed by the former regime against innocent civilians, began on Thursday (May 7, 2026).
Judicial sources reported that the Supreme Criminal Court began studying the indictment against the defendant, which includes his actual participation in military and security operations that targeted vast areas of northern Iraq, accompanied by grave violations against civilian populations.
The first session was held amid tight security measures, under wide media and public interest in this file, which represents one of the most sensitive trials in the history of modern Iraqi judiciary.
The Anfal crimes date back to a series of systematic military operations carried out in the late 1980s, which resulted in the killing and disappearance of thousands of civilians, the destruction of hundreds of villages, and the organized mass displacement of residents of northern Iraq areas.
