Anfal criminal Ajaj Faces New Trial Over Crimes Against Feyli Kurds
At a Glance
- Ba'athist criminal Ajaj of Nugra Salman faces a new trial for alleged crimes and systematic torture against Feyli Kurds.
- The Baghdad Investigation Court has officially begun recording victim statements after a formal lawsuit was filed by human rights attorney Ayad Kakei.
- The convicted Anfal criminal is already facing a death sentence handed down in May 2026, following his prior arrest and confessions regarding wartime atrocities.
Anfal criminal Ajaj Ahmed Hardan al-Tikriti (Ajaj of Nugra Salman), widely known as the former director of the notorious Nugra Salman prison who is already facing the death penalty, is set to face a new trial in a criminal case involving crimes against Feyli Kurds.
Key Statements and Focus Areas
- Plaintiffs' attorney Ayad Kakei confirmed to Channel8 that a formal lawsuit was filed on September 8 at the Criminal Court in Baghdad against Ajaj and several other Ba'athist officers.
- The Investigation Court in Baghdad has officially commenced recording the statements of the plaintiffs following the submission of corroborating evidence proving his involvement, alongside several other Ba'athist officers, in the torture of detained Feyli Kurds.
Speaking to Channel8, attorney Ayad Kakei stated that two Feyli Kurdish citizens are presenting legal evidence proving they were sentenced and systematically tortured by Ajaj and officers of the former regime.
Kakei added that the Investigation Court in Baghdad has officially commenced taking the plaintiffs' statements to grant the case its full legal trajectory.
The lawyer also revealed that during his previous trial for the Anfal crimes, Ajaj confessed to abusing Feyli Kurds inside the prison.
FYI
Regarding his legal status, Ajaj Ahmed Hardan al-Tikriti was arrested on July 31, 2025, and subsequently sentenced to death by the Baghdad Rusafa Appeals Court on May 14, 2026, following extensive witness testimony and his own confessions.
During the late 1980s Anfal genocide campaign, al-Tikriti served as the director of the notorious Nugra Salman prison, also called the Nugra Salman Fortress, which operated as a severe detention and torture hub situated in the Samawah desert within the Muthanna Governorate.
In this executive capacity, he oversaw the systematic starvation, torture, and mass execution of thousands of Kurdish detainees.
Unofficial Ba'athist records indicate that more than 9,000 victims, the majority being non-combatant children and the elderly, were held at the facility, where warden al-Tikriti also subjected prisoners to acts of sexual violence while survivors recount starving children being discarded or interred in unmarked desert trenches.
The newly registered lawsuit represents a broader effort by legal advocacy organizations to hold the former Ba'athist official judicially accountable for all atrocities committed against diverse components of Iraqi society.
Historically, Feyli Kurds faced a systematic campaign of genocide, forced deportation, asset expropriation, and denationalization by the Ba'ath regime starting in the early 1980s, alongside the forced disappearance and fatal torture of thousands of young community members.
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