Iraq PM says remains of 1,250 soldiers killed by ISIS in 2014 recovered

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said authorities have recovered the remains of 1,250 Shiite soldiers killed by ISIS in 2014, with the bones to be handed to the victims' families once identification is completed. He announced the figure at a press conference in the capital. The remains have been processed by a forensic medical unit attached to the army's 33rd Division in Sulaymaniyah, which has been handling identification work since 2019. More than 450 families have so far received the remains of their relatives under the program. In a ceremony held in Baghdad last year, the families were presented with documents recognizing them as victims of the killings. Hundreds of Shiite soldiers were killed at a former air base near Tikrit after ISIS captured Mosul in 2014, one of the group's worst mass killings during its sweep through northern and central Iraq.