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Anfal genocide was a campaign against the Kurds in 1980s. It was aimed at the elimination of the Kurds in Iraq, by destroying and burning Kurdish villages down. Killing and burying alive the people of these villages. It costed over 200,000 lives of innocent Kurds. A group of experts from ministry of Anfaled and Martyrs are to excavate these graves soon. The graves hold remnants of 272 children and the oldest one among them is a 16 year old girl. A pregnant woman is also among them, added Amin.

Two Iraqi boys smile for the camera while recently visiting their new school in Ramadi. The Gulf Region District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers handed the school over to the Iraqi Ministry of Education this week. USACE photo. RAMADI — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recognizes the importance of education and places a high priority on school projects as part of their reconstruction mission here. With more than 1,135 school projects completed and operational, USACE finished and turned the Mazraa elementary school in the western city of Ramadi over to the Iraqi Ministry of Education this week.Paul Ijames, project...

An excited child receives a bag of toys and school supplies from Spc. Michael Petro (right), of West Chester, Pa., as Staff Sgt. Marvin McCorvey, of Graham, N.C. manages the already growing crowd of children outside Forward Operating Base Falcon, in southern Baghdad, Dec. 12. Photo by Spc. Kelly LeCompte, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. BAGHDAD — Two Soldiers with Company B, 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, recently organized a surprise toy delivery for children living here just outside the walls of Forward Operating Base Falcon. Spc. Michael Petro, an infantryman, said he had the idea to start collecting goodies...

Maj. Tim Rustad, 49th Iraqi Army Brigade Military Transition Team, hands a soccer ball to an Iraqi child near Dibbis in Kirkuk province, Dec. 3. Soldiers from the MiTT began a soccer ball drive in November, receiving donations from friends and family in the States. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas, 1st Cavalry Division. KIRKUK — Soccer is one of the most enduring and popular sports in Iraq. Children can be seen here kicking the ball around at any given time of the day on fields made of dirt. In support of this national pastime, Soldiers from the Military Transition...

10/20/2009 - JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFNS) -- Nearly 100 Iraqi children spent Oct. 10 running, playing and, more than anything, smiling as they had fun with American servicemembers on Joint Base Balad. The local Iraqi youths, from 5 to 18 years old, were invited to the base as part of a project initiated by the U.S. Department of State's Salah Ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team, and Joint Base Balad Airmen and Soldiers jumped on the idea to coordinate the details for the children. Capt. Amy White, the 332nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group executive officer and lead organizer for the...

Students of the Twin Schools wait for the official opening of the schools in Taji, Iraq, Oct. 12. The Twin Schools will provide education to more than 1,200 children. Photo by Pfc. Adam Halleck, 1st Cavalry Division. TAJI — Following two years of hard work, a ribbon cutting ceremony here celebrated the grand opening of two schools nestled in a small village north of Baghdad, Oct. 12. Known as the “Twin Schools” to American Soldiers, the facilities can now provide the more than 1,200 students of the area with the high-quality education they deserve.In the past two years, this project...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Oct. 7, 2009 – Local community leaders and members of the Basra Provincial Reconstruction Team attended the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $2.8 million, two-story Basra Talent School here Oct. 1. Army Sgt. Jennifer E. Macdonald, a vocalist with the 34th Infantry Division Band, performs Iraq's national anthem with students of Basra city's newest talent school Oct. 1, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Maurice A. Galloway  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “This teaching institution is for boys and girls who have been identified as having particular educational abilities,” said Tawded Abd...

KIRKUK — The once shattered windows of the Burhiema Primary School here are now intact, and through them, the children of Burhiema village can be seen smiling as they dig through bags of new school supplies. The school — once abandoned because of its poor condition — is once again filled with life and optimism as children returned from their summer vacations, Sept. 2, to find their local Iraqi Police, assisted by Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, waiting to greet them with a few surprises. The IP and Soldiers distributed 150...

It was only earlier this month that a Miami-Dade fire station was named the busiest in the nation. Now we are learning that the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Antivenom Unit is one of the most respected in the world. On Saturday, after a 3-year-old girl in Iraq was bitten by a saw-scaled viper, American military officials placed a call to Capt. Ernie Jillson, head of the antivenom unit as well as a military reservist. Jillson, who was tending to his lawn in Davie, consulted with doctors and told them that because their patient was a small girl they needed to administer...

Senior Airman Kevin Andrews, a fire fighter with the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, helps an Iraqi child put on a fire suit outside the Oasis Dining Facility during a health fair here, Aug. 22. Forty-one Iraqi children were in attendance for the health fair. Photo by Senior Airman Chris Hubenthal, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. JOINT BASE BALAD — U.S. Airmen and Soldiers hosted a Department of State Provincial Reconstruction Team-initiated Health Fair for local Iraqi children at the Oasis Dining Facility here, Aug. 22. More than 40 children from the surrounding Salah ad Din province interacted with service members...

An Iraqi Policeman gives a soccer ball to a young boy in Tarmiyah, north of Camp Taji, July 29. Photo by Maggie White, Multi-National Division - Baghdad. CAMP TAJI — More than 2,000 children from the Tarmiyah area received soccer balls and school supplies, July 29, thanks to a combined effort between the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (Independence), Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the Iraqi Ministry of Education. In the past, the Independence Brigade Soldiers and their ISF counterparts have facilitated many school drops under the Junior Hero program, but the Future Hero program took things to the next...

JOINT BASE BALAD — Airmen and Soldiers here aided in fostering strong relationships with Iraqi citizens by preparing and delivering donations from a stateside fraternity to be given to Iraqi children who live near the base, July 14-15. The Pennsylvania State University chapter of the social fraternity Phi Kappa Tau supports programs which increase the quality of life for terminally ill children. Through their program Kicks 4 Kids, along with some inquiring by Capt. Craig Bryan, Expeditionary Aeromedicine Squadron psychologist and PKT alumnus, they were able to collect approximately 300 soccer balls to be distributed to Iraqi children via the...

Capt. Jason Glanovsky of the 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron loads soccer balls into boxes to be distributed to Iraqi children living near Balad, July 15. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Hubenthal. JOINT BASE BALAD — Airmen and Soldiers here recently received donations for Iraqi children who live near this base from a stateside fraternity.  The Pennsylvania State University chapter of the social fraternity Phi Kappa Tau supports programs to increase the quality of life for terminally ill children. Through their program Kicks 4 Kids, along with some inquiring by Capt. Craig Bryan, Expeditionary Aeromedicine Squadron psychologist...

Members of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity teach first aid to Iraqi Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts during a recent partnership session. Photo by Lt. Col. Pat Simon, 225th Engineer Brigade. BAGHDAD — "From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life." That quote from former tennis great Arthur Ashe is not just a famous saying, it's a way of life for a unique group of Soldiers deployed here.They are members of the college fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi, who meet every week at the Pegasus dining facility on Camp Liberty. They are fraternity "brothers...

An Iraqi Soldier distributes the contents of a food bag to residents of the "1st of June" area of Abu Ghraib, during a joint Coalition/Iraqi foot patrol, June 25. Photo by Sgt. Philip Schratwieser, 1st Infantry Division. BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers conducted a combined patrol through Abu Ghraib to deliver supplies, disrupt insurgents and foster relationships, June 25. The area they patrolled is called the "1st of June," as Iraqis often name areas after significant dates in their history.Leading the patrol was a platoon from the 24th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. As a result of the agreement...

6/18/2009 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNS) -- After a brief stop in America's Heartland, an Air Force Reserve C-130 Hercules aircrew from here took another step in a long journey for a special load of cargo headed for Iraq. On June 11, reservists from the 302nd Airlift Wing flew to Sioux City, Iowa, where they received four pallets of children's wheelchairs. The 115 wheelchairs, donated by Hope Haven International Ministries of Rock Valley, Iowa, will be handed out to children in the Baghdad area by Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C. "It really gives...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, June 3, 2009 – Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team visited and surveyed the progress of the children’s hospital in Basra, Iraq, May 28. Army Maj. (Dr.) Roger Brockbank looks over the grounds May 28, 2009, as soldiers make their way to the entrance of the children’s hospital under construction in Basra, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rodney Foliente  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The 94-bed facility will be the first state-of-the-art pediatric specialty hospital in Iraq and is nearing completion, with outpatient services slated to start in...

BASRAH — The 94-bed, 16,000-square-meter Basrah Children's Hospital, which will be the first state-of-the-art pediatric specialty hospital in Iraq, is nearing completion with outpatient services slated to begin in September. Inpatient oncology services are slated to begin in November, surgical services in January, and additional services, such as radiation oncology, will become available at later stages. "Having a specialized pediatric hospital will be beneficial for the children of Basrah and the future generations to come," said Maj. Roger Brockbank, 2nd Brigade Combat Team surgeon, 4th Infantry Division. "We participated in what I would consider a joint, multi-agency project, to provide...

Rome, Italy, May 9, 2009 / 12:33 am (CNA).- During the Papal Mass on May 10 in Amman, Jordan, Pope Benedict XVI will give First Communion to 40 Iraqi children, according to the Secretary of the Chaldean Diocese of Jordan, Msgr. Raymond Moussalli. The SIR news agency reports that Msgr. Moussalli, who is in charge of welcoming Iraqi refugees in Amman, said Jordan children would be among the group as well. "Their desire is to pray with the Pope for reconciliation and peace in Iraq. It will be an important moment for us faithful not only in Jordan but also...

287th Sustainment Brigade Support Operations Plans Officer in Charge, Capt. Traci Earls, plays a game of flash cards with students at the Soonobar Elementary School in Dhi Qar province, March 26. Photo by Sgt. Heather Wright, 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). COB ADDER — A U.S. Civil Military Operations (CMO) team recently visited the Soonobar School in Dhi Qar province to read to the children, foster good will and deliver school supplies.Sgt. 1st Class Chris Baker, 287th Sustainment Brigade postal supervisor, and Capt. Traci Earls, the 287th support operations plans officer in charge, were two team members who volunteered to read...