Iraq allocates $27 million to excavate massive ISIS mass grave near Mosul

MOSUL — Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council announced Sunday the allocation of 40 billion dinars ($27 million) to begin excavations at Al-Khasfa, a giant sinkhole south of Mosul that ISIS used as a mass grave. Officials estimate the excavation effort could take up to five years.

Judge Raed Hamid, head of the Nineveh Court of Appeals, visited the site alongside Nineveh Governor Abdul Qader Al-Dakhil and senior security officials.

“This visit is part of ongoing efforts to document the crimes committed by the terrorist entity [ISIS] and highlight the suffering of the victims and their families,” the council said in a statement. “Thousands of innocent people were executed and thrown into this pit during ISIS’s rule.”

Governor Al-Dakhil, who first announced the excavation project on March 6, described Al-Khasfa as “the largest mass grave in the world.” The initiative aims to bring justice to families who have waited years for answers about missing relatives.

“It is a moment of sadness and great pain, and we stand on the land of Al-Khasfa, this spot that carries deep wounds for the people of Mosul and Nineveh Governorate,” Al-Dakhil said.

He recalled one of the most horrific massacres at the site in 2016, when ISIS executed 280 people—most of them Interior Ministry personnel—in a single day.

The sinkhole, measuring roughly 150 meters (about 492 feet) deep and 110 meters (361 feet) across, served as a site for mass executions throughout ISIS’s occupation. Victims included not only Nineveh residents but also people from other regions of Iraq.

Estimates on the number of bodies inside Al-Khasfa range from 15,000 to as many as 20,000, according to Al-Dakhil, making it among the largest known mass graves globally.

Authorities stressed that the excavation would demand significant technical and logistical efforts due to hazardous conditions within the sinkhole, such as toxic gases and sulfurous materials. In addition to identifying remains and delivering justice, officials are also considering turning the location into a memorial to honor victims and reinforce efforts to combat extremism.