Two more mass graves found in Hawija, women and children inside

Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi paramilitary forces have run into two more mass graves as Iraq declared the recapture of Islamic State stronghold Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.

The Popular Mobilization Forces’ media said Thursday the two mass graves were wounded in southwestern Hawija, adding that the relics belonged to both security members and civilians including women and children.

PMFs have recently run into three mass graves of security members executed by Islamic State militants at the villages of Abu Sakhra and al-Therban, also southwest of Hawija, as operations proceeded to clear the town.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said earlier on Thursday its forces seized back Hawija after three years of occupation by Islamic State.

Since it emerged in 2014 to proclaim a “caliphate” rule, Islamic State  has regularly executed civilians and security members for contacting security forces or attempting to flee the group’s holdouts. It also occasionally executed its own members for escaping battlefields.

“More mass graves will be unearthed later,” the PMF statement said.

The United Nations has recently voiced concern for the fate of 78.000 civilians believed to be trapped inside Hawija. Islamic State has faced accusations by local and international rights agencies of using civilians as human shields against Iraqi troops.