Latest news with #Khasfa
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Iraq starts work on Islamic State mass grave that could hold over 4,000 bodies
Iraqi authorities have begun excavating the site of a mass grave believed to contain thousands of victims of Islamic State (IS) near Mosul city, the project's director said on Sunday. Advertisement The first phase, launched on August 10, includes surface-level excavation at the Khasfa site, Ahmed al-Assadi said. A journalist visiting the site in northern Iraq on Sunday said the team unearthed human skulls buried in the sand. Khasfa is near Mosul, where IS established the capital of their self-declared 'caliphate' before being defeated in Iraq in late 2017. This aerial view shows the Khasfa site near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Official estimates put the number of bodies buried at the site at least 4,000. Photo: AFP Assadi said that there were no precise figures for the numbers of victims buried there – one of dozens of mass graves IS left behind in Iraq – but a UN report from 2018 said Khasfa was likely the country's largest. Advertisement Official estimates put the number of bodies buried at the site at 4,000, with the possibility of thousands more.
Khaleej Times
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Iraq starts work on Daesh mass grave thought to contain thousands
Iraqi authorities have begun excavating the site of a mass grave believed to contain thousands of victims of the Daesh group near Mosul city, the project's director told AFP on Sunday. The first phase, which was launched on August 10, includes surface-level excavation at the Khasfa site, director Ahmed Al Assadi said. An AFP correspondent visiting the site in northern Iraq on Sunday said the team unearthed human skulls buried in the sand. Khasfa is located near Mosul, where Daesh had established the capital of their self-declared "caliphate" before being defeated in Iraq in late 2017. Assadi said that there were no precise figures for the numbers of victims buried there — one of dozens of mass graves IDaesh left behind in Iraq — but a UN report from 2018 said Khasfa was likely the country's largest. Official estimates put the number of bodies buried at the site at at least 4,000, with the possibility of thousands more. The project director said the victims buried there include "soldiers executed by IS", members of the Yazidi minority and residents of Mosul. Exhuming the bodies from Khasfa is particularly difficult, Assadi said, as underground sulphur water makes the earth very porous. The water may have also eroded the human remains, complicating DNA identification of victims, he added. Assadi said further studies will be required before his team can dig deeper and exhume bodies at the site -- a sinkhole about 150-metre (nearly 500-foot) deep and 110-metre wide. Iraqi authorities said it was the site of "one of the worst massacres" committed by Daesh militants, executing 280 in a single day in 2016, many of them interior ministry employees. In a lightning advance that began in 2014, IDaesh had seized large swathes Iraq and neighbouring Syria, enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law and committing widespread abuses. The United Nations estimates the militants left behind more than 200 mass graves which might contain as many as 12,000 bodies. In addition to Daesh-era mass graves, Iraqi authorities continue to unearth such sites dating to the rule of Saddam Hussein, who was toppled in a US-led invasion in 2003.
Malay Mail
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Iraq begins excavation of mass grave near Mosul believed to hold thousands of IS victims
BAGHDAD, Aug 17 — Iraqi authorities have begun excavating the site of a mass grave believed to contain thousands of victims of the Islamic State (IS) group near Mosul city, the project's director told AFP today. The first phase, which was launched on August 10, includes surface-level excavation at the Khasfa site, director Ahmed al-Assadi said. An AFP correspondent visiting the site in northern Iraq on Sunday said the team unearthed human skulls buried in the sand. Khasfa is located near Mosul, where IS had established the capital of their self-declared 'caliphate' before being defeated in Iraq in late 2017. Assadi said that there were no precise figures for the numbers of victims buried there—one of dozens of mass graves IS left behind in Iraq—but a UN report from 2018 said Khasfa was likely the country's largest. Official estimates put the number of bodies buried at the site at at least 4,000, with the possibility of thousands more. The project director said the victims buried there include 'soldiers executed by IS', members of the Yazidi minority and residents of Mosul. Exhuming the bodies from Khasfa is particularly difficult, Assadi said, as underground sulphur water makes the earth very porous. The water may have also eroded the human remains, complicating DNA identification of victims, he added. Assadi said further studies will be required before his team can dig deeper and exhume bodies at the site—a sinkhole about 150-metre (nearly 500-foot) deep and 110-metre wide. Iraqi authorities said it was the site of 'one of the worst massacres' committed by IS jihadists, executing 280 in a single day in 2016, many of them interior ministry employees. In a lightning advance that began in 2014, IS had seized large swathes Iraq and neighbouring Syria, enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law and committing widespread abuses. The United Nations estimates the jihadists left behind more than 200 mass graves which might contain as many as 12,000 bodies. In addition to IS-era mass graves, Iraqi authorities continue to unearth such sites dating to the rule of Saddam Hussein, who was toppled in a US-led invasion in 2003. — AFP
Arab News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Iraq starts work on Daesh mass grave thought to contain thousands
BAGHDAD: Iraqi authorities have begun excavating the site of a mass grave believed to contain thousands of victims of the Daesh group near Mosul city, the project's director said on Sunday. The first phase, which was launched on August 10, includes surface-level excavation at the Khasfa site, director Ahmed Assadi said. An AFP correspondent visiting the site in northern Iraq on Sunday said the team unearthed human skulls buried in the sand. Khasfa is located near Mosul, where Daesh had established the capital of their self-declared 'caliphate' before being defeated in Iraq in late 2017. Assadi said that there were no precise figures for the numbers of victims buried there – one of dozens of mass graves Daesh left behind in Iraq – but a UN report from 2018 said Khasfa was likely the country's largest. Official estimates put the number of bodies buried at the site at least 4,000, with the possibility of thousands more. The project director said the victims buried there include 'soldiers executed by Daesh,' members of the Yazidi minority and residents of Mosul. Exhuming the bodies from Khasfa is particularly difficult, Assadi said, as underground sulfur water makes the earth very porous. The water may have also eroded the human remains, complicating DNA identification of victims, he added. Assadi said further studies will be required before his team can dig deeper and exhume bodies at the site – a sinkhole about 150-meter (nearly 500-foot) deep and 110-meter wide. Iraqi authorities said it was the site of 'one of the worst massacres' committed by Daesh militants, executing 280 in a single day in 2016, many of them interior ministry employees. In a lightning advance that began in 2014, Daesh had seized large swathes Iraq and neighboring Syria, enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law and committing widespread abuses. The United Nations estimates the militants left behind more than 200 mass graves which might contain as many as 12,000 bodies. In addition to Daesh-era mass graves, Iraqi authorities continue to unearth such sites dating to the rule of Saddam Hussein, who was toppled in a US-led invasion in 2003.
