Iraqi authorities have commenced the excavation of a mass grave site near Mosul, believed to contain thousands of victims of the Islamic State (IS) group.
The al-Khasfa site, a sinkhole approximately 150 meters deep and 110 meters wide, is thought to be one of the worst massacres committed by IS.
Ahmad Qusay al-Asady, head of the Martyrs Foundation’s mass graves excavation department, stated that his team began work on August 9 at the request of the Nineveh province.
The excavation will initially focus on gathering visible human remains and surface evidence while preparing for a full exhumation that will require international support.
Al-Asady noted that the site is “a very complicated site” due to the presence of sulfur water and unexploded ordnance, which may have eroded human remains and complicate DNA identification. The foundation will build a database and collect DNA samples from families of suspected victims to aid in identification.
According to authorities, the site could contain at least 4,000 remains, with the possibility of thousands more. Rabah Nouri Attiyah, a lawyer who has worked on over 70 cases of missing people in Nineveh, believes al-Khasfa could be “the largest mass grave in modern Iraqi history”. However, al-Asady emphasized that investigators have not yet confirmed its size.
The victims buried at the site are estimated to be around 70% Iraqi army and police personnel, as well as other victims, including Yazidis.
Interviews with witnesses suggest IS fighters brought people to the site by bus to kill them, with many reportedly decapitated. Al-Asady recounted, “Many of them were decapitated”.
The excavation is part of a broader effort to uncover mass graves left behind by IS, which ruled large swaths of Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2017.
During its peak, IS carried out massacres of thousands of Yazidi people and enslaved thousands of Yazidi women. The group was notorious for its brutality and was defeated in Iraq in late 2017.
Iraqi authorities continue to unearth mass graves dating back to the rule of Saddam Hussein, who was toppled in a US-led invasion in 2003.
The excavation of these sites is crucial for identifying the deceased and providing closure for families affected by IS’s brutal occupation.