Suspected ISIS fighter's remains found in Nineveh

Shafaq News- Nineveh

The remains of an unidentified man discovered west of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, are believed to belong to an ISIS member, security and forensic sources told Shafaq News on Tuesday.

Security forces found the remains in the industrial area of Wadi Akab after responding to a report from residents, with preliminary examinations indicating the skeletal remains date back to the 2017 battle to liberate Mosul from ISIS or an earlier period. The Forensic Medicine Directorate transferred the bones for DNA analysis and is coordinating with specialized authorities in Baghdad to identify the victim.

The Islamic State's three-year control of northern and western Iraq left behind the country's most recently documented and internationally investigated mass graves. A joint report by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) documented 202 mass grave sites in the provinces of Nineveh, Kirkuk, Saladin, and Al-Anbar, containing the remains of women, children, older people, persons with disabilities, and members of Iraq's security forces. Among the largest is the Al-Khasfa sinkhole south of Mosul, believed to contain thousands of human remains and remaining one of Iraq's most technically challenging excavation sites.

Read more: The long shadow of Sinjar: Twelve years after the ISIS genocide