ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syrian authorities have dug the bodies of 101 people out of seven mass graves found in the al-Boukamal area, state media reported on Tuesday. They appear to have been executed. “During checking, sweeping, and inspections in the city of al-Boukamal, a civilian notified us of the existence of a mass grave in the green belt, two kilometers from al-Boukamal city,” an unidentified Syrian army officer told SANA. “During the inspection, seven mass graves were found, containing hundreds of bodies,” he continued. The majority of the bodies they exhumed had their “hands tied” and “bullet wounds to the head,” he added. Many of the bodies also bear signs that they were tortured before being killed, according to SANA news. The people, as yet unidentified, were believed killed by ISIS when the militant group controlled the area. Members of Syria’s civil defense teams and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are working to recover more bodies. They estimate that hundreds could be buried in the mass graves that were discovered in the Deir ez-Zor countryside west of al-Boukamal. The city al-Boukamal exchanged hands several times before the Syrian army and their allies finally took control in November 2017. It is the last major urban centre in the Euphrates River valley before the border with Iraq.
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