Discovery of at least 139 potential ISIS victims' bodies from a mass grave in Iraq

Iraqi officials say they have exhumed the remains of at least 139 potential victims of the Islamic State group, known as ISIS, from a large pit located 70 kilometers from Mosul. The director of a government agency related to finding mass graves and identifying bodies stated on Sunday, July 15, that it is unclear how many bodies were thrown into this mass grave, saying, "We have recovered the remains of 139 people and also body parts of several others." He further noted that the victims included both women and men, and based on evidence, "the victims are Yazidis, Shiite Turkmen, and personnel from the security forces of Mosul, the capital of the self-proclaimed ISIS caliphate." The evidence referred to by this director includes the clothing of the victims; some of the clothing found indicates that these individuals may be Yazidi or Turkmen. Additionally, the remains of 90 Yazidis were discovered in two mass graves in Sinjar. Other bodies were found wearing orange uniforms that were specific to ISIS hostages. Another official from this government agency stated that "some victims were shot, and others were found with their throats cut," and several bodies were also found in bags. The discovered bodies have been transferred to forensic medicine for identification through DNA testing. During its peak, ISIS ruled over parts of Syria and Iraq, during which its fighters enslaved, tortured, and executed many citizens of these two countries. The fighters committed a significant portion of their crimes against the Yazidis, an ethnic and religious minority in northern Iraq. It is believed that a larger mass grave exists in northern Iraq containing the remains of many ISIS victims. Iraqi officials have reported many discoveries of mass graves of ISIS victims and victims from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, but the process of identifying these bodies is slow, complex, and costly. The United Nations estimates that members of the Islamic State group left behind over 200 mass graves that may contain 12,000 bodies in Iraq and Syria. According to a report four years ago by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, one of these graves is a valley 50 meters deep in northern Syria that was used as a dumping ground for bodies during and after ISIS rule.