Mass grave containing dozens of Kurds unearthed...

Photo Gallery

Mass grave containing dozens of Kurds unearthed in southern Iraq

6 hours ago

18 Photos

Horvan Rafaat

SAMAWAH, Iraq - A mass grave containing the remains of dozens of Kurdish women and children was unearthed in a remote desert in Iraq’s southern province of Muthanna on Sunday after recently being found through satellite images.

The mass grave is in the Tal Sheikh area of Samawah, located 130 kilometers from the provincial capital. It was discovered in May through satellite images.

Human skulls, pairs of shoes and traditional Kurdish clothes were among remains unearthed on the first day of exhumation.

It is not clear how many people are buried in the mass grave but they are estimated to be nearly 150 Kurdish women and children.

Many Kurdish figures, including Iraq’s first lady and lawmakers, were present when the exhumation process began.

Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed, the First Lady of Iraq, broke into tears while speaking to Rudaw at the site.

“The women are hugging their children and the children are hugging one another. We saw that they were wearing springtime clothes. There are bullets in the skulls of the victims. This is unfortunate and a crime,” she said, adding that it is a crime to remain silent on the massacre.

Sirwa Mohammed, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw that when they saw the remains of the victims they ran out of words to describe the scenes, adding that any Kurd who visits the site will deeply feel the pain of seeing their fellow people being massacred.