Iraqi officials have started excavating a mass grave near Mosul, suspected to hold thousands of Daesh victims, the project’s director informed AFP on Sunday.
The initial phase, which began on August 10, involves surface-level digging at the Khasfa site, according to director Ahmed Al Assadi.
An AFP reporter on-site in northern Iraq on Sunday observed the discovery of human skulls in the sand.
Khasfa is situated near Mosul, where Daesh once declared the capital of their “caliphate,” prior to their defeat in late 2017.
Assadi mentioned that there are no exact numbers for the victims buried there—one of many mass graves left by Daesh in Iraq—but a 2018 UN report identified Khasfa as potentially the largest.
Official estimates suggest at least 4,000 bodies are buried there, with the possibility of more.
The victims include “soldiers executed by IS,” Yazidi minority members, and Mosul residents, according to the project director.
Assadi noted that exhuming bodies is challenging due to underground sulphur water making the soil very porous.
This water might have also damaged the remains, complicating DNA identification, he added.
Further studies are needed before deeper excavation can proceed at the site, a sinkhole approximately 150 meters deep and 110 meters wide, Assadi said.
Iraqi authorities described it as the location of “one of the worst massacres” by Daesh, where 280 were executed in one day in 2016, many being interior ministry staff.
In a rapid advance starting in 2014, Daesh seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, enforcing strict Islamic law and committing widespread atrocities.
The UN estimates the militants left over 200 mass graves that could contain up to 12,000 bodies.
Besides Daesh-era graves, Iraqi officials continue to discover sites from Saddam Hussein’s rule, who was overthrown in a 2003 US-led invasion.
