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Iraqi authorities have began excavating three mass graves dating back to the time of Saddam Hussein. The graves are in the deserts of southern Iraq but they are believed to contain the remains of hundreds of civilians from northern Iraq, victims of the Anfal genocide, Saddam Hussein's campaign in 1988 to punish the Kurds for rebelling against his dictatorship. One of the graves is said to contain the bodies of between 80 and 100 people, mainly women and children. We spoke to Taimur Abdullah, a survivor of the massacre, and Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group. How many people died in the Anfal campaign?

(Photo: Samawa, southern Iraq, site of one of the mass graves. Credit: Taimur Abdullah)