Mass grave found near Syria’s capital could contain 100,000 bodies

Burial sites are emerging across Syria after the ousting of al-Assad, accused of widespread extrajudicial killings.

A mass grave that could contain the remains of some 100,000 people has been found outside Syria’s capital Damascus, as the new interim government promises to hold accountable those responsible for atrocities under the ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

The site at al-Qutayfah, located 40km (25 miles) north of the capital, was one of several mass graves identified across the country after the collapse of the decades-long rule of the al-Assad family.

Twelve mass graves were also discovered in southern Syria. At one site, 22 bodies, including those of women and children, exhibited signs of execution and torture.

Al-Assad and his father Hafez, who preceded him as president and died in 2000, are accused of killing hundreds of thousands through extrajudicial killings, including in the country’s notorious prison system.

Ugur Umit Ungor, professor of genocide studies at the University of Amsterdam, told Al Jazeera that the discovery of the “centralised mass grave” in al-Qutayfah was “a reflection of the killing machine of the Assad regime”.