Six mass graves of ISIS torture victims located in chilling Iraq discovery
The latest discovery with six mass graves had dozens of victims from various eras of violence in Iraqi history, including ISIS and al-Qaeda regime.
Iraq has uncovered six mass graves in al-Anbar province, excavating remains of victims of violence over the years.
The Martyrs Foundation reported on Monday that the graves were located in the Al-Jam’iyah neighborhood of al-Saqlawiyah.
This adds to the growing list of mass graves that Iraqi authorities continue to unearth. According to The Martyrs Foundation, 31 mass graves, including remains of 1,700 Kurdish people and 2,007 blood samples from potential relatives over the last 17 years, were discovered "since the beginning of 2008," Rudaw reported.
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The latest discovery with six mass graves had dozens of victims from various eras of violence in Iraqi history, including Saddam Hussein's regime, as well as the ISIS and al-Qaeda control of the region.
DNA tests and analyses will be conducted to confirm the identities using samples from families of missing victims, the Foundation said.
"Once verified, remains will be returned to relatives for burial," they added.
Iraqi officials will also receive other legal documents, such as forensic reports and seizure records, to launch an official investigation.
Iraq has more than 200 mass grave sites, including many from the Baath era.
Mass graves include the 1988 Anfal campaign against Kurds during Hussein's regime, which killed more than 182,000 Kurds, the 1991 Shaaban uprising, and political opponents being killed in the 1980s, Shafaq News reported.
After 2003, extremist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS triggered waves of fresh violence, including the 2014 massacre of Yazidis in Sinjar and the execution of more than 1,700 Iraqi cadets at Camp Speicher.
Last month, families of Anfal victims gathered in Baghdad to urge Iraqi authorities to expedite the exhumation of victims buried in unmarked graves in southern Iraq.
In December 2024, satellite imagery revealed that several mass graves containing 150 Kurdish children and women were believed to be buried.
Recently, the FBI spurred an investigation in Syria where Qatari agents found 30 bodies of ISIS victims in a formerly militant-controlled town.
