Syria exhumes 670 corpses from mass grave in Raqqa

Some 670 corpses were exhumed in Syria’s northern city of Raqqa yesterday, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.

The head of the rescue team, Yasser Al-Khamis, confirmed that 670 corpses have been recovered from the first row of the Al-Fakhikheh grave site in southern Raqqa.

There are several more rows still to be excavated.

Al-Fakhikheh contains the bodies of Daesh soldiers and civilians executed during the jihadist group’s military campaign in Raqqa, Al-Khamis said.

The grave is also thought to house the remains of foreign media who were killed by the jihadists during their control of the city.

READ: 4,250 people still missing in Raqqa

Raqqa was retaken from Daesh by the US-led coalition in October 2017 and between then and January this year, 14 mass graves have been found.

Amnesty International has accused the coalition of not taking appropriate care during its air strikes and for the subsequent deaths of 1,600 civilians.

The site was discovered early this year and is considered to be one of the largest yet found.

“There are some 2,500-3,000 bodies estimated there, plus between 900 and 1,100 bodies in the individual graves, so at least 3,500 total,” Asaad Mohammad, a forensic assistant at the site, told AFP in February.

READ: Who killed 8,000 prisoners in Syria’s slaughterhouses?

At the height of Daesh’s campaign, the jihadist group controlled one third of both Syria and Iraq.

There are believed to be around 80 mass graves across the two countries, according to a Yazidi abductees’ organisation in Iraq.

A United Nations report released today said that investigators had unearthed 12 mass graves in Iraq and are preparing evidence to help convict imprisoned Daesh militants.

The witness accounts from the investigations will be made available to Iraqi and other national courts.