Iraq hands over remains of 32 Yazidis killed by ISIS

Shafaq News/ Iraq has handed over the remains of 32 Yazidi victims to their families after completing identity verification through forensic examinations, a government official said on Thursday.

“The remains belong to victims from Sinjar, a Yazidi-majority district that was overrun by Islamic State militants in 2014,” Zaid Ali Abbas, Director General of the Forensic Medicine Department, announced at a joint press conference in Baghdad.

Al-Sheikh Naif, a representative of the Yazidi victims' families said that efforts were underway to establish a memorial in Sinjar to honor the victims. "We are coordinating with relevant authorities to expedite the process of delivering DNA test samples of other victims' families to Baghdad and making the results public," he said.

In turn, Diaa Karim, head of the Mass Graves Affairs and Protection Directorate, revealed that additional remains would be handed over in future batches as forensic identification continues.

Addressing the broader issue of mass graves, Karim said forensic teams annually announce discoveries based on completed databases. "Excavations begin as soon as a mass grave is identified," he added.

According to Karim, Iraq has documented 125 mass grave sites linked to ISIS, pointing out that every site could contain many mass graves.

“So far, authorities have opened 134 mass graves, bringing the total to 151, including 64 in Sinjar alone. 29 sites remain to be examined in Nineveh province.”