New mass grave found in Iraq’s Mosul city
This image released by the the Mass Graves Directorate of the Kurdish Regional Government shows a human skull in a mass grave containing Yazidis killed by Islamic State militants in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq in May, 2015. An analysis by The Associated Press has found 72 mass graves left behind by Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria, and many more are expected to be discovered as the group loses territory. (Kurdish Mass Graves Directorate via AP)
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi security forces on Saturday found a new mass grave including remains of 78 civilians who were killed by Islamic State militants in Mosul city, a security source was quoted saying on Saturday.
Iraqi website BasNews quoted Cap. Ali Hassan Marwan, from Nineveh province police, as saying that the new mass grave was found near al-Rashidiyah district in Mosul.
He added that the remains of 54 people were found to be belonging to women, who were kidnapped by IS militants during the group’s capture of the city.
They were handed to forensic experts to identify them and their relatives.
As Iraqi troops recaptured areas held by Islamic State militants since 2014, they have regularly run into mass graves of civilians and security agents executed by the militants for fleeing the group’s havens or collaborating with security forces.
Iraq’s war against the Islamic State displaced millions of civilians both inside and outside the country, and left thousands dead, according to government and United Nations figures. In 2017 alone, violence left more than 3,000 dead and more than 4,000 wounded.
Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State last December, ending a three-year war to bring down the group’s self-styled “caliphate” declared from Nineveh’s Mosul in 2014. Security continues to comb recaptured areas for remnant cells as a number of attacks against civilians and security grew fears of their resurgence.