2,070 victims without graves: Nineveh remembers “Khafsa” atrocity

Shafaq News – Nineveh

On Thursday, the province of Nineveh commemorated the anniversary of the "Khafsa Massacre," where 2,070 residents of Mosul were executed by ISIS in 2015 on charges of apostasy.

In a statement, Nineveh Governor Abdulqadir al-Dakhil said, “That tragedy will remain an enduring witness to the brutality and savagery of terrorism,” noting that the Provincial Council, in close coordination with the judiciary, is moving forward to open the Khafsa mass grave—considered one of the largest mass graves in human history—document the crime, restore the dignity and rights of the victims, and ensure justice for their families.

The site, known locally as “al-Khafsa,” is a deep geological sinkhole located about 20 kilometers south of Mosul. It was used by ISIS as a mass burial site to conceal the bodies of its victims during the group's control over the city from June 2014 to July 2017.

Despite repeated demands by the people of Nineveh and human rights organizations to uncover the truth and determine the fate of the missing, the site remains sealed to this day.