Iraq begins exhuming ISIS mass grave at Al-Khasfa thought to hold 3,000+ victims
In 2024, Human Rights Watch said that hundreds of thousands of victims remain buried in mass graves across Iraq, including those killed under former President Saddam Hussein.
Iraqi officials have begun excavating a mass grave believed to contain victims of atrocities committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) during its occupation of parts of the country from 2014 to 2017.
What happened: The state-run Iraqi News Agency reported on Sunday that the governor of Iraq's Ninevah province, Abdul Qadir al-Dakhil, launched the first phase of excavations at the Al-Khasfa mass grave site located roughly 19 kilometers (12 miles) south of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
During a press conference on Sunday, Dakhil described the site as “a crime that shocks the mind and conscience,” according to the INA.
Dakhil said ISIS and other extremist groups killed roughly 20,000 people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds during ISIS’ rule in northwestern Iraq. “On a single day, more than 2,000 Mosul residents were executed, including 600 from the Wadi Hajar area,” he said.
