Iraq begins excavation of mass graves in Tal Afar as new remains are uncovered

NINEVEH — An Iraqi team has begun excavating a newly discovered mass grave in the Saad neighborhood, east of Tal Afar. The site, located within an unfinished school, was not part of the annual excavation plans. Simultaneously, work resumed at the “Aloo Antar” mass grave, north of the city, after new remains were discovered. The Saad excavation is expected to last 10 days, with all remains transferred to Baghdad’s Forensic Medicine Department. Work at Aloo Antar will continue until Oct. 9.

The graves are believed to contain victims abducted by ISIS following the group’s takeover of Tal Afar and Sinjar, west of Mosul. Thousands of Yazidis were captured, along with hundreds of Turkmen. Of the Turkmen abductees, only 54 have been liberated, while the rest remain missing. Authorities expect many of their remains to be found in the Saad and Aloo Antar graves.

Recently, the excavation team completed a campaign to collect blood samples and data from the families of 47 missing Turkmen who were not previously registered. An additional 71 blood samples were collected over the last five days to help identify remains.

Ahmed Qusay, head of the excavation team, explained that the Saad site was added to an exceptional plan after human remains were discovered. “Our specialized teams have opened the mass grave in the Saad neighborhood in Tal Afar, inside an under-construction school. All remains will be delivered to Baghdad’s Forensic Medicine Department for examination,” Qusay said. He noted that it is too early to determine the age or gender of the victims.

Durgham Kamal, director of the Martyrs of Mass Graves Division at the Martyrs Foundation, provided more details on the ongoing efforts at Aloo Antar. “After completing all technical, logistical, and legal preparations, we began the first phase of work at Aloo Antar in May, lasting 25 days. The second phase took place between mid-June and July, also for 25 days,” Kamal said.

He continued, “In the third phase, from late July to mid-August, we recovered 159 remains, which were handed over to the Forensic Medicine Department after gathering information from the families and obtaining blood samples for identification.”

Kamal confirmed that the fourth phase of work is now underway and will continue until Oct. 9, with several remains identified as recovery efforts continue.

The Islamic State, which declared a caliphate in 2014, was expelled from Iraq in 2017 by Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga, with support from a U.S.-led coalition. While the group lost its final Syrian stronghold in 2019, its remnants continue to threaten the region.

According to a June 2024 report by the Strategic Center for Human Rights in Iraq, an estimated 400,000 people, including Christians, Kurds, and Shiites, are believed to be buried in mass graves throughout Iraq. The country has between 250,000 and 1 million missing persons, many thought to be victims of mass executions.

In 2007, Iraq’s Council of Ministers designated May 16 as National Day of Mass Graves to honor the missing. The Law on the Protection of Mass Graves, amended in 2015, provides guidelines for investigating these sites. The International Commission on Missing Persons has collaborated closely with Iraq for more than a decade to address this issue.