Iraq: bodies of 157 Speicher massacre victims found in 20 days
ISIS execution.
Tikrit (IraqiNews.com) The bodies of 157 Iraqi cadets massacred by Islamic State militants in 2014 have been discovered over the past 20 days, a committee observing the exhumations said on Wednesday.
The Committee to Commemorate the Tikrit Massacre said 157 bodies were found at a burial place at the presidential palaces complex in Tikrit, Salahuddin province, over the past 20 days.
According to the committee, this brings the total number of corpses found up to 1150, out of 1935 victims.
The massacre occurred at the Speicher air base in Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin, when Islamic State militants executed 1700 Shia students at the air force. The victims were either shot at or beheaded before their corpses were dumped into the Tigris River, which cuts through Tikrit. The incident was one instance among many that ignited public discontent with the performance of former prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki.
Last June, Iraq sentenced 32 defendants to death for involvement in the massacre.