Remains of 1,500 Daesh victims found in mass grave in Iraq

Excavation efforts commenced near the town of Tal Afar, in Mosul, northern Iraq, yesterday, uncovering a mass grave believed to contain the remains of Turkmen victims, all presumed to have been killed by Daesh between 2014 and 2017.

Thousands of Iraqi Turkmen families who have been missing their loved ones for years are anxiously awaiting the retrieval of their relatives’ bodies from what is locally known as the “massacre well” of Daesh.

Located approximately ten kilometres south of Tal Afar, the well, known locally as “Allov Anter”, plunges deeper than 100 metres and was notoriously termed the “Well of Hell” by Daesh. After seizing control of the region on 9 June 2014, Daesh reportedly executed thousands of individuals and discarded their bodies in the well.

Driven by the initiative of Turkmen institutions, associations, and civil society organisations, this mass grave, untouched for ten years, has been opened by the Iraqi government. The retrieval process of the bodies has begun, revealing the remains of women and children among the victims.

According to information and documents obtained from civil society organisations, Tal Afar District Governor, Halil Muhsin, estimates that there are more than 1,500 bodies in the well. Muhsin noted that excavation efforts have been ongoing for approximately a month and a half, and many bodies of missing individuals are still presumed to be in the mass grave. He highlighted that there is no information about the fate of more than 1,300 Turkmen in Tal Afar, based on their research and applications received.

In the month and a half of ongoing work, more than 200 sets of remains have been retrieved and sent to the Iraqi Ministry of Health for DNA testing.

READ: Iraq sentences widow of former Daesh leader to death over role in group’s crimes