Iraq unearths six mass graves in al-Anbar

Shafaq News/ Iraq has finished excavating six mass graves in al-Anbar province, uncovering remains of victims executed during various periods of violence, the Martyrs Foundation reported on Monday.

The graves, located in the Al-Jam’iyah neighborhood of al-Saqlawiyah, contained dozens of victims killed under Saddam Hussein’s regime, as well as during al-Qaeda and ISIS control in the area, the foundation stated, adding that DNA tests will be conducted using samples from families of the missing to confirm identities.

“Once verified, remains will be returned to relatives for burial.”

The foundation also confirmed that legal documents, including forensic reports and seizure records, will be submitted to Iraqi courts to trigger official investigations.

According to the Martyrs Foundation and UN reports, Iraq has identified more than 200 mass grave sites, many from the Baath era. These include graves from the 1988 Anfal campaign against Kurds, the 1991 Shaaban uprising, and crackdowns on political opponents in the 1980s.

After 2003, new waves of violence emerged, particularly by extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. Among the most notorious incidents were the 2014 massacre of Yazidis in Sinjar and the execution of more than 1,700 Iraqi cadets at Camp Speicher.