Dozens of bodies found in mass grave: official

pulse

April 21, 2018 11:06 PM

Dozens of bodies, including those of jihadists and civilians, have been found in a mass grave in the former Islamic State group stronghold of Raqa in Syria, a local official said on Saturday.

The former de facto "capital" of the group in northern Syria, Raqa saw the jihadists ousted by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in October 2017.

Nearly 50 bodies had already been recovered from the mass grave, which could contain up to 200 bodies, Abdallah al-Eriane, a senior official with Raqa Civil Council now running the city, said,

The mass grave was located under a football pitch, close to a hospital where the jihadists had dug in before being chased out of the city.

"It was apparently the only place available for burials, which were done in haste. The jihadists were holed up in the hospital," the official said, adding that some bodies were marked with the nom de guerre of the jihadist while civilians just had first names.

In recent months, both Syria and Iraq have discovered mass graves in areas previously occupied by the jihadists.

Syrian troops uncovered a mass grave containing the remains of more than 30 people killed by IS in Raqa province in February.

It followed two other similar finds by the Syrian army.

The Islamic State group, which proclaimed a "caliphate" over swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, has now lost almost all the land it once controlled.

It has been held responsible for multiple atrocities during its reign of terror, including mass executions and decapitations.

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