Relics of tens of victims found in mass grave, south of Mosul
Representational photo.
“Security troops in Mosul received reports from citizens over locating a mass grave in al-Haj village in Qayyarah town, south of Mosul,” the source from Nineveh police told the London-based Al-Arab newspaper. “Special forces moved to the grave location and ensured its presence there.”
Preliminary information indicated that the victims were killed two years ago.
“Relics of 90 persons were taken out,” the source added. “The bodies were just skeletons with clothes on them. There were shots on the skulls of most of the bodies, which confirms that the victims were killed by the perpetrators from close locations.”
“A committee from Health Minister reached the grave location and began transferring the relics to the forensic medicine department to recognize their identities and hand them over to their families,” the source added.
The grave, according to the source, “was completely cordoned to prevent the citizens approaching. Recovering the relics would take several days due to shortage in specialized personnel at the ministry.”
On Saturday, a huge mass grave composed of relics of 111 victims, executed by Islamic State, was found in al-Ramdaniyah village in Qayyarah, Col. Saleh al-Sherifi, of Nineveh Operations Command, told BasNews.
Security troops ran into tens of mass graves at regions recaptured from IS. More than 70 graves, including Yazidis killed by IS, were also found.