Mass graves in Sulaymaniyah and Nineveh plains still under investigation, Duhok team says

DUHOK, Iraq — Duhok Investigation and Evidence Collection Committee member Colonel Shakir Mahmoud Mirani said work is continuing with relevant institutions to complete files on mass graves in Sulaymaniyah, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Mirani said the committee recently sent a delegation, accompanied by a judge, to Baghdad to follow up on the case of remains of hundreds of unidentified victims. The latest mass grave to be opened was located in the Mushayrefa area in the countryside around the city of Mosul, Mirani said. Roughly 15 sets of remains believed to belong to Yezidi victims have been recovered from the site, which was initially thought to contain the remains of Peshmerga forces, according to the committee member. Mirani added that more than 500 sets of remains recovered from mass graves since 2017 remain unidentified, citing a lack of sufficient blood samples from family members. He estimated that about 30 mass graves in Sulaymaniyah have yet to be exhumed and said the work requires financial allocations and extensive resources. The committee member also said remains recovered in 2016 from a grave near the Shrine of Sherif will be sent to Baghdad's Forensic Medicine Authority for identification.