Mass grave of ISIS victims discovered in Nineveh

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A mass grave was found in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh reportedly containing the remains of 14 victims of the Islamic State (ISIS), authorities announced on Wednesday.

Authorities were alerted to the site by a civilian working on digging and laying the foundation of a school under construction in Tal Afar district, according to a statement from the Iraqi security media cell.

“Initial investigation revealed that these remains belonged to 14 victims of ISIS criminal gangs who had buried them earlier,” read the media cell statement, adding that the bodies have been preserved and will be handed over to relevant authorities to identify them.

ISIS swept through Iraq in 2014, capturing cities across the center and north of the country in a brazen offensive, including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and the capital of Nineveh province, where the group’s former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared its so-called “caliphate.”

The Shingal (Sinjar) area is where ISIS committed genocide against the Yazidi minority when it seized control of Nineveh province in 2014. Thousands fled their homes as the militants systematically killed men and older women, and enslaved younger women and children. More than 5,000 Yazidis were killed in the genocide.

Exhumation of mass graves in Shingal began in 2019. Progress on this front halted during the coronavirus pandemic and resumed in October 2020. 

The exhumations are carried out by the Iraqi government in coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and are overseen by the United Nations Investigation Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh (UNITAD).

A mass grave was found near the Shingal in April, believed to be containing the remains of Yazidis killed by ISIS.