Iraq starts excavation of large mass grave left by rampaging Islamic State

Based on unverified accounts from witnesses and families and other unofficial testimonies, authorities estimate that thousands of bodies could be buried at the Khasfa site.

IRBIL, Iraq — Iraqi officials have begun the excavation of what is believed to be a mass grave left behind by the Islamic State extremist group during its rampage across the country a decade ago.

Local authorities are working with the judiciary, forensic investigations, Iraq’s Martyrs’ Foundation, and the directorate of mass graves to carry out the excavation of the site of a sink hole in al-Khafsa, south of the northern city of Mosul, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported Sunday.

Ahmad Qusay al-Asady, head of the Martyrs Foundation’s mass graves excavation department, told The Associated Press that his team began work at Khasfa on Aug. 9 at the request of Nineveh province’s Gov. Abdulqadir al-Dakhil.

The operation is initially limited to gathering visible human remains and surface evidence while preparing for a full exhumation that officials say will require international support.

After an initial 15 days of work, the foundation’s Mosul teams will build a database and start collecting DNA samples from families of suspected victims.

Al-Asady explained that laboratory processing and a DNA database must come first to ensure proper identification. Full exhumations can only proceed once specialized assistance is secured to navigate the site’s hazards, including sulfur water and unexploded ordnance.

Khasfa is “a very complicated site,” he said.

Based on unverified accounts from witnesses and families and other unofficial testimonies, authorities estimate that thousands of bodies could be buried there, he said.