Mass graves for IS victims yield 400 remains

HAWIJA— Massgraves with at least 400 suspected Islamic State (IS) victims have been found near the former jihadi bastion of Hawija in northern Iraq, the regional governor said on Saturday. The string of grisly discoveries was made at a military base around 3 kilometers from the city that the jihadis “turned into an execution ground,” said Kirkuk governor Rakan Said. “Not less than 400 people were executed,” he said. Dozens of mass graves were discovered by advancing Iraqi troops that forced IS out of Hawija in October. IS had seized Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014.

—AFP Iraqi officials and journalists inspect a mass grave with the remains of IS victims.