Soldiers uncover a mass grave in Hammam Al-Alil, south of Mosul

Record ID: 79623

  • Title: Soldiers uncover a mass grave in Hammam Al-Alil, south of Mosul
  • Date: 9th November 2016
  • Summary: HAMMAM AL-ALIL, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 9, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BODIES SEEN IN THE MASS GRAVE FOUND IN HAMMAM AL-ALIL VARIOUS CLOSE-UPS OF BOUND FEET IN THE GRAVE AREA SKULL SEEN IN THE GRAVE WITH HANDS BOUND VARIOUS OF FEDERAL POLICE MEMBER, KARAR SAMIR, POINTING AT THE GRAVE SKULL IN THE GRAVE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF THE FEDERAL POLICE, KARAR SAMIR, SAYING: "This grave was found by the police in Hammam al-Alil. Daesh (Islamic State) militants used it for the police they killed, and then took their families with them to Mosul. Here, there are almost 50 - 60 (bodies of police members killed)." MEMBER OF THE FEDERAL POLICE, ALI MUBARAK, SPEAKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF THE FEDERAL POLICE, ALI MUBARAK, SAYING: "They took our sons, our cousins, my brother is with them, those dogs. They killed them there behind the berm. They would kill them at night, then they would bury them using the shovel the next day. They would leave half their bodies out (in the sand)." BODIES IN THE GRAVE VARIOUS OF BONES AND DEBRIS IN THE GRAVE
  • Embargoed: 24th November 2016 17:57
  • Keywords: mass grave Iraq Hammam Al-Alil Mosul Islamic State police
  • Location: HAMMAM AL-ALIL, IRAQ
  • City: HAMMAM AL-ALIL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA00157Q758N
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL
    Iraqi security troops on Wednesday (November 9) inspected a mass grave they found containing about 150 decapitated corpses in the town of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul.
    The town was seized from Islamic State by Iraqi Federal Police units last week as Iraqi government forces, Kurdish peshmerga and Shi'ite militias backed by U.S.-led air strikes pushed their offensive to recapture Mosul from Islamic State.
    "They took our sons, our cousins, my brother is with them, those dogs. They killed them there behind the berm. They would kill them at night, then they would bury them using the shovel the next day. They would leave half their bodies out (in the sand)," Ali Mubarak, a member of the federal police, said at site of the mass grave.
    The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, said on Tuesday (November 8) that she could not confirm media reports of the mass grave, but said it happened to be in the same agricultural college in Hammam al-Alil where the U.N. reported the execution of 50 police officers last month.
    Islamic State fighters had abducted 295 former Iraqi Security Forces members and forced 1,500 families to retreat with them from the town, she added.
    She said it appeared Islamic State either intended to kill them or use them as human shields.
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