Mass Iraq graves in former ISIS areas

KIRKUK, Iraq — Iraqi security forces have found mass graves in an area recently retaken from ISIS that could contain up to 400 bodies, an Iraqi official said Sunday.

The bodies of civilians and security forces were found in an abandoned base near Hawija, a northern town retaken early last month, Kirkuk Gov. Rakan Saed said. He didn’t say when authorities will start exhuming the bodies from the mass graves.

Khalaf Luhaibi, a local shepherd who led troops to the site, said the Islamic State used to bring captives to the area and shoot them dead or pour oil over them and light them on fire.

The area was strewn with torn clothing and what appeared to be human bones and skulls.

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have driven ISIS from nearly all the territory it once controlled, with some fighting still underway near the western border with Syria.

Authorities have already uncovered several mass graves in other newly liberated areas.