Iraq to open tomb of 2,000 civilians killed by Daesh

The Iraqi government is seeking to open a “Al-Khasfa” tomb in the country’s northern governorate of Nineveh, where some 2,000 bodies of civilians killed by Daesh are buried, local media reported yesterday.

Saad Al-Abdali, a member of the Iraqi Council of Ministers’ board, told Assabah that the opening of the tomb required “an international effort”, adding that the hole was “the largest and bloodiest”.

“The corpses were thrown vertically and cumulatively, which meant the body remains and bones mixed together, making it difficult to identify the victims and return them to their families,” Al-Abdali said.

The Iraqi official pointed out that a team specialising in mass graves had begun planning for the dig.

Al-Khasfa is located in the southwest of the Iraqi northern city of Mosul in an abandoned desert area. It was said to have been found after a meteorite fell to the ground thousands of years ago.

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