Dozens of bodies found in mass grave
QAMISHLI: Dozens of bodies, including those of jihadis and civilians, have been found in a mass grave in the former Islamic State group stronghold of Raqa in Syria, a local official said.
The former de facto “capital” of the group in northern Syria, Raqa saw the jihadis ousted by the Us-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in October 2017.
Nearly 50 bodies had already been recovered from the mass grave, which could contain up to 200 bodies, Abdallah al-eriane, a senior official with Raqa Civil Council now running the city, said on Saturday.
The mass grave was located under a football pitch, close to a hospital where the jihadis had dug in before being chased out of the city. “It was apparently the only place available for burials, which were done in haste. The jihadis were holed up in the hospital,” the official said, adding some bodies were marked with the nom de guerre of the jihadi while civilians just had first names.
In recent months, both Syria and Iraq have discovered mass graves in areas previously occupied by the jihadis.
Syrian troops uncovered a mass grave containing the remains of more than 30 people killed by IS in Raqa province in February.
It followed two similar finds by the Syrian army.
The Islamic State terror group, which proclaimed a “caliphate” over swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, has now lost almost all the land it once controlled.
It has been held responsible for multiple atrocities during its reign of terror, including mass executions and decapitations.
EVACUATED REBELS, CIVILIANS GO TO AFRIN
Syrian rebels and civilians bussed out of an area near Damascus headed to a northwestern pocket of the country held by pro-turkish forces, a monitor and rebel sources said.
The displacement was the result of a negotiated withdrawal of rebels from the East Qalamun area, 60 km northeast of Syria’s capital. Under the deal, several thousand anti-government fighters and their relatives are to be granted safe passage from East Qalamun to rebel-held territory in the north.