SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi security forces have found a mass grave containing 45 bodies in the governorate of Kirkuk, Iraqi media reported.
The Iraqi forces carried out a search operation in the Dawd al-Aluka in the sub-district of Riyadh in southwestern Kirkuk on Monday (October 19), Shafaaq news cited a security source as saying.
“A mass grave was found during the operation,” a security source said.
“The mass grave goes back to the time of Daesh and the killing of civilians of the area by Daesh militants,” the source added, using an Arabic name for Islamic State (ISIS).
The federal government announced victory over Islamic State by the end of 2017 after Iraqi and Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led Coalition regained control of areas once captured by the militant group.
Despite its defeat, ISIS still poses a threat to the security and stability of the country as there are still sleeper cells in Iraq.
