TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iraqi forces unearthed over 70 mass graves containing thebodies of Iraqi civilians, mostly Izadi people, tortured and slain by theISIL terrorists in three towns near the Northern city of Mosul, which wasonce the ISIL terrorists’ main stronghold in the country, local sourcesreported on Wednesday.
The sources said that over 70 mass graves have thus far been discovered inthe towns of Sinjar, Tal Afar and al-Ba’aj in Nineveh province.
The sources said that the mass graves contain a large number of bodies ofIzadi people mascaraed in ISIL’s era in Nineveh.
Several mass graves have been found in areas formerly controlled by ISILterrorists since Iraqi forces launched their major offensive in October2016 to liberate Mosul, the ISIL’s last urban stronghold in the Arab state.
The largest mass grave on the territory of Iraq, allegedly containing thebodies of more than four thousand people, was found late February not farfrom the city of Mosul near the Baghdad-Mosul road.
According to reports, the number of dead bodies was more than fourthousand, making it the largest mass grave on the territory of Iraq so far.The bodies belonged to Iraqi security forces who have been killed by theISIL back in the summer of 2014 when the terrorist group first captured thearea.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of militaryoperations against the ISIL group in the Arab country.
ISIL began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes inlightning attacks. Iraqi forces then launched operations to eliminate ISILand retake lost territory.