Anbar unearths 3 mass graves of victims executed by Islamic State
Iraqi authorities exhume a mass grave in Tikrit.
The three mass graves were discovered at al-Karma, east of Fallujah, Azrakiya, northwest of Fallujah and at the center of the city of Ramadi, according to Ammar Nuri, the director of al-Shuadaa (martyrs), an Iraqi cabinet body established in 2007 to assist the families of civilians and security personnel killed or imprisoned by the Saddam Hussein regime as well as in terrorism and violence that followed its collapse.
The bodies contained in the graves probably belonged to people executed by IS in 2015, according to Nuri. Army squads are guarding the discovered sites until special forensic teams arrive from Baghdad to open them up.
Since it emerged in 2014 to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate, the Islamic State executed hundreds of civilians and security agents for multiple reasons, including failure to commit to its extremist religious rules, attempting to flee areas under its control or collaboration with security forces.
Dozens of mass graves have been discovered as Iraqi forces launched offensives in October to retake regions occupied by the group.
Islamic State militants in Anbar only control three towns in the western area close to the borders with Syria, and the Iraqi government says it will launch operations soon to retake those towns.