Mass grave containing 14 bodies of victims of the Islamic State jihadist group found in Iraq

Jul 25. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Iraqi authorities have announced the discovery of a new mass grave containing the bodies of nearly 15 people executed by Islamic State in the northern province of Nineveh during the period in which the jihadist group declared its “caliphate” in parts of Iraq and Syria.

The Media Security Cell, linked to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, said in a statement on its account on the social network X that the mass grave was found after reports of human remains being found in a neighborhood in the city of Tal Afar.

He said that the troops sent to the site made “a painful discovery” and added that “preliminary examinations show that the remains correspond to fourteen victims of the Islamic State criminal gangs who were buried here.”

“Day after day, the brutality and vileness of the Islamic State terrorist gangs, which shed the blood of the innocent and the defenceless, is made clear to the entire world,” he said, adding that steps were being taken to identify the dead.

Lastly, he asked for “mercy and eternity for the martyrs of Iraq, who, with their great sacrifices, drew the map of victory against terrorism,” in reference to the military defeat of the group in Iraqi territory in 2017.

The jihadist group has several hundred fighters spread across several mobile cells within Iraqi territory, where it has carried out several attacks in recent months, despite the territorial defeat of its “caliphate.”

During this time, the Iraqi government has launched several operations that have resulted in the deaths or capture of dozens of suspected members of the Islamic State, including several described as senior members of the terrorist organization.