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Three news mass graves found in north Iraq

Monday, 30 November 2015 9:04 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 30 November 2015 10:55 AM ]

Members of Iraq's Izadi minority search through remains and items found a day after a mass grave was found in Sinjar, on February 3, 2015.

Iraqi officials say they have found three new mass graves in the country’s northern town of Sinjar, weeks after it was recaptured from Daesh terrorists operating in the region.

Qasim Simo, the head of security in Sinjar, said on Sunday that the three graves found over the weekend contained 80 to 100 bodies, thought to be those of members of Iraq’s Kurdish Izadi minority group.

According to Simo, two of the graves were discovered to the east of Sinjar, while the third was found within the western edges of the previously Daesh-held town.

A total of five mass graves holding as many as 300 remains have been found in or around the town in recent weeks.

Experts say excavation work and identification of the victims could take months.

"The important thing is that the site is secure," said the International Commission on Missing Persons’ Kevin Sullivan, adding that the area needed to be “secured by police or under authority of a prosecutor.”

On November 28, a bomb-rigged mass grave believed to be the resting area of 123 people, was uncovered west of Sinjar.

Back in August 2014, Daesh militants attacked and overran Sinjar, killing, raping, and enslaving large numbers of Izadis. Sinjar was later recaptured on November 13 during an operation by Iraqi Peshmerga forces and Izadi fighters.

The terrorists have been carrying out attacks in the country since June 2014.

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