Iraq starts excavating mass grave of suspected Islamic State victims
Aug 19, 2025
Baghdad [Iraq], August 19: Iraq will work on identifying victims at a mass grave believed to hold the remains of thousands of people killed by the Islamic State terror group, the Iraqi government said on Monday, a day after excavation began at the site.
The government pledged to support "all technical and legal efforts to identify the victims and ensure their relatives receive the help needed and all their rights," spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said in a statement.
The Al-Khasfa mass grave in the northern Nineveh province "contains the remains of thousands of innocent Iraqi victims," he added. Local authorities announced the beginning of the exhuming process on Sunday. Nineveh Governor Abdul Qader Al Dakhil has estimated that the grave contains the remains of up to 20,000 people killed by Islamic State, during the time the group controlled large parts of northern Iraq between 2014 and 2017.
Source: Qatar Tribune
