Original version

BBC World Service Australasia

The Documentary

Documentaries

Factual

Investigating global developments, issues and affairs.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

The Documentary: Iraq’s Kurds: From Flight to Freedom

Iraq’s Kurds: From Flight to Freedom

21/05/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Iraq’s Kurds: From Flight to Freedom

The flight of the Iraqi Kurds from Saddam’s forces twenty-five years ago

Twenty five years ago thousands of Iraqi Kurds died fleeing Saddam Hussein’s forces. Jim Muir revisits the exodus with recordings heard here for the first time.

Twenty-five years ago, thousands of Iraqi Kurds lost their lives as they fled the forces of Saddam Hussein into the Zagros and Taurus mountains of northern Iraq, towards Iran and Turkey. Massively outgunned, many were killed by the helicopter gunship fire and tanks at the command of Saddam’s well trained and brutal troops. Virtually the entire Kurdish population trekked up into the mountains through freezing rain and snow, where many perished before a safe haven was established under western air protection.
 
The mass flight of the Kurds was yet another stage in the turbulent history of a people who have faced a constant struggle to establish their place in the world. BBC Middle East correspondent Jim Muir was there, and revisits the exodus with recordings he made then which have never been heard before.

(Photo: Jim Muir with Jalal Talibani and Masoud Barzarni, leaders of the 1991 Kurdish uprising)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Documentary

Iraq’s Kurds: From Flight to Freedom

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Australasia

About BBC World Service