Politics

Mass grave containing dozens of bodies found in Iraq's disputed Kirkuk

“I cannot say that among the bodies are Peshmerga fighters, because we did not find the military clothes or pieces of evidence ties the bodies to the Peshmerga fighters.”

Mustafa Shilani 2020/10/20 19:57

middle east Iraq Kirkuk ISIS mass grave

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Federal Police found a mass grave containing the bodies of 40 to 50 individuals in southwestern parts of the disputed Kirkuk province on Monday.

“We were able to find a mass grave in the village of Dawood Aluka in the Riyadh subdistrict,” said Major General Mohammed al-Saadi, the commander of the Federal Police Armored Division. “This grave contains the bodies of 40 to 50 people.”

He added that the grave contains skeletons, clothing, and gun magazines. Saadi asserted that, according to a preliminary analysis, the location might have been an execution site of citizens when the Islamic State terrorist organization controlled the area.

The police commander explained that his unit had informed nearby villagers to avoid approaching the site, as the relevant authorities and experts exhume the bodies and work to identify them.

In the past few years, the Iraqi and Kurdish government forces have found several mass graves in areas that Islamic State members previously controlled. Following the discovery, which included gun ammo and magazines, suspicion arose that Peshmerga fighters might be among the bodies.

“I cannot say that among the bodies are Peshmerga fighters, because we did not find the military clothes or pieces of evidence ties the bodies to the Peshmerga fighters,” Saadi explained.

The Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga Minister has reported at least 44 cases of missing fighters up to 2018 during the fight against the terror group.

Since the emergence of the Islamic State in 2014, around 2,000 Peshmerga fighters have fallen while fighting the terrorist group, and over 10,000 more have been injured, according to the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga Ministry.

Iraq declared military victory over the Islamic State in late 2017. However, senior Kurdish and Iraqi officials continuously warn of a resurgence as the group continues to carry out insurgency attacks, ambushes, and kidnapping in the country.