Mass graves discovered in Islamic State territory

Iraqi security forces have found mass graves in an area recently retaken from the Islamic State group that could contain up to 400 bodies, a senior official said yesterday.

The bodies of civilians and security forces were found in an abandoned base near Hawija, a northern town retaken in early October, Kirkuk governor Rakan Saed said. He did not say when authorities would start exhuming the bodies from the mass graves.

Khalaf Luhaibi, a local shepherd who led troops to the site, said IS used to bring captives to the area and shoot them dead or pour oil over them and set them on fire. The area was strewn with torn clothing and what appeared to be human bones and skulls.

Iraqi forces have driven IS from nearly all the territory it once controlled. Authorities have already uncovered several mass graves in other newly liberated areas.

Some fighting is still under way near the western border with Syria.