Mass grave with relics of 25 security personnel found, north of Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Relics of more than twenty security personnel were found in a mass grave in north of Mosul, a security source from Nineveh Operations Command said on Sunday.

“Security troops from the command ran into a mass grave composed of relics of 25 conscripts of local police, who were executed by Islamic State in al-Rashidiya region,” the source told Baghdad Today.

“The relics were recognized by the identity cards with them,” the source added.

The relics, according to the source, were recovered by security forces and extradited to forensic medicine department so their relatives would recognize them.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

A total of 117 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 264 injured due to terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in November, according to the monthly count recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, with 201 civilian casualties. Salahaddin Governorate followed, with 24 killed and 60 injured, and Kirkuk had 12 killed and 28 injured.

On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State militants who had held the second largest Iraqi city since 2014. More than 25,000 militants were killed throughout the campaign.