Northern iraq: Iraqi forces unearth mass grave

BAGHDAD: The remains of hundreds of mainly Shia inmates killed by Islamic State militants when they overran a prison in northern Iraq more than two years ago have been unearthed by forces retaking the area from the group, a spokesman said. An Iraqi Shia paramilitary group made the discovery after driving the militants from the Badush area where the prison is located, as part of a wider US-backed campaign to dislodge Islamic State from the city of Mosul. “Initial checks of part of the mass grave revealed remains with prison uniforms and lined up in a way that indicates they were shot dead in groups,” said Karim Nouri, spokesman for the Hashid Shaabi, a state-run umbrella for Shia paramilitary groups.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2017.