Largest Daesh mass grave holding 3 500 people found
THE bodies of more than 3 500 people who were killed at the hands of Daesh have been exhumed in Syria’s northern city of Raqqah, the Takfiri terrorist group’s former bastion.
According to reports on Thursday, the burial site is located in the al-Fukheikha suburb and so far the remains of 120 people have been unearthed from the mass grave at a farmland outside Raqqah.
“We’ve heard accounts from residents of al-Fukheikha that they would see people gathering with someone in an orange suit,” Turki al-Ali, who is supervising the recovery effort, said.
The terror group would typically dress its captives in orange suits when they executed them.
“There are some 2 500-3 000 bodies estimated there, plus between 900 and 1 100 bodies in the individual graves, so at least 3 500 total,” Asaad Mohammad, a forensic assistant at the site, said.
He added that the burial site is “the largest grave since Daesh came to Raqqah” in 2014 and that the identity of the victims remains unknown.
Daesh established its de facto capital in Raqqah in 2014 after it overran territories in Syria and Iraq. The group committed some of the most heinous crimes against civilians and military forces, which shocked the world.
Eight more mass graves have been already dug up around Raqqah where recovery efforts began in January 2018.
Since then, more than 3 800 bodies have been uncovered across Raqqah.
Kurdish militants recaptured Raqqah more than a year ago with the help of US airstrikes which left the once sprawling city totally destroyed.
The US and its allies have repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians and drawn criticism over their failure to destroy Daesh, which they claim to be fighting.
“These mass graves hold the answers to the fate of people who had been executed by Daesh fighters, who died in coalition airstrikes, or who have been missing,” Sara Kayyali of Human Rights Watch said.
Amnesty International’s new Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said after visiting Raqqah back in October that “attacks by the US-led coalition not only killed hundreds of civilians but also displaced tens of thousands, who are now returning to a city in ruins, while many others languish in camps.”
The US-led coalition recently airlifted to safe sanctuaries several large boxes full of “spoils” that members of the foreign-sponsored terror outfit had claimed in Syria’s eastern provinces of Hasakah and Dayr al-Zawr as well as neighbouring Iraq.
Daesh usually accepts to withdraw from areas under its control after it strikes deals with Washington.
Local sources, requesting anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA last week that US helicopters landed in the Dashisha area of Hasakah and Hajin in Dayr al-Zawr, and transported dozens of Takfiri commanders and militants to unknown locations.
The sources added that the extremists, in return, had directed US forces to their caches of stolen gold east of Shaddadi town.
In December, US President Donald Trump ordered his commanders to execute a “full” and “rapid” withdrawal of over 2 000 American forces from Syria within 30 days, arguing that with the defeat of Daesh the US military’s mission in the country had come to an end.
However, White House Press Secretary Sarah H Sanders said on Thursday that around 200 American troops will remain in Syria on a “peacekeeping” mission despite Trump’s pledge to fully evacuate the Arab country.
“A small peace keeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for (a) period of time,” she said in a statement. — Reuters. Lagos (Nigeria) — Nigerians are expected to cast their ballots today, seven days after the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections were abruptly postponed just hours before polling stations opened.
It marked the third time in row that a vote has been delayed in Nigeria.
With 84 million people registered to vote in the country, its Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has the mammoth task of overseeing the voting process in Africa’s largest democracy.
Early on February 16, INEC’s chairman said that after a review of the “logistics and operational plan,” proceeding with the vote that day was not feasible.
The fallout was swift, with the two main political parties blaming one another. Nigeria is also counting the economic cost of delaying the elections, which has been put at more than $2 billion, according to analysis firm SBM Intelligence, which estimates that Nigeria lost 0.531 percent of its $420 billion gross domestic product.
Many figures, such as Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, expressed concern that one week isn’t enough time for the INEC to deal with the concerns they expressed previously.
The delay also comes with a new set of logistical challenges. For example, the dates on thousands of electronic card readers for biometric voting were all required to be changed to the new election date. INEC says that it has now reconfigured 100% of these readers and is on track to deliver voting materials to states that didn’t originally have them.
While voting looks likely to go ahead, there are fears of low voter participation on Saturday, including those expressed by INEC itself. Spokesman Festus Okoye told local media on Monday, “We are worried about voter turnout.”
Many Nigerians travel from major cities such as Lagos and Kano to their home towns or villages to vote where they are registered. Some are unlikely to make another trip after last week’s wasted journey or will be unwilling to pay to travel again. — Online.