Iraq
Iraqi Forensic Medicine Department press conference on February 13, 2025. Photo: screengrab/Rudaw
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi Forensic Medicine Department announced on Thursday that it has successfully identified 53 victims killed by the Islamic State (ISIS) and buried in mass graves in northern Iraq.
The director general of the department, Zaid Ali Abbas, confirmed that 32 of the victims were Yazidis killed by ISIS and buried en masse in the predominantly Yazidi district of Shingal (Sinjar). With the new identifications, the total number of identified Yazidi victims has reached 275, according to Abbas.
Since 2019, the Forensic Medicine Department has uncovered numerous mass graves in Nineveh province, especially in and around Shingal.
Moreover, the identities of 21 Iraqis from the Arab-majority district of Hamam Al-Alil in Nineveh were also determined.
ISIS took control of large swathes of territory in Iraq’s north and west in 2014, and in August of that year, the group overran the Yazidi heartland of Shingal. According to the Yazidi Rescue Office - an affiliate of the Kurdistan Region’s Presidency - more than 6000 Yazidis were abducted, many of whom into slavery. Meanwhile, the fate of thousands of others remains unknown until today.
The director general of the department, Zaid Ali Abbas, confirmed that 32 of the victims were Yazidis killed by ISIS and buried en masse in the predominantly Yazidi district of Shingal (Sinjar). With the new identifications, the total number of identified Yazidi victims has reached 275, according to Abbas.
Since 2019, the Forensic Medicine Department has uncovered numerous mass graves in Nineveh province, especially in and around Shingal.
Moreover, the identities of 21 Iraqis from the Arab-majority district of Hamam Al-Alil in Nineveh were also determined.
ISIS took control of large swathes of territory in Iraq’s north and west in 2014, and in August of that year, the group overran the Yazidi heartland of Shingal. According to the Yazidi Rescue Office - an affiliate of the Kurdistan Region’s Presidency - more than 6000 Yazidis were abducted, many of whom into slavery. Meanwhile, the fate of thousands of others remains unknown until today.
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