Live
Audio Only
Nearly 500 bodies have been found in several mass graves across the Iraqi city of Tikrit, the country’s health minister announced on Thursday.
Tikrit is located 140 kilometers from capital Baghdad, which was previously under the control of the Islamic State group.
"We have exhumed the bodies of 470 Speicher martyrs from burial sites in Tikrit," said health minister Adila Hammoud during a press conference.
The top official added that most of the victims are believed to have been young Shia soldiers who were based at Camp Speicher when the military base was overrun by the Islamic State group.
The soldiers were abducted in June 2014, lined up in several locations, and executed one by one, as shown in pictures and videos that have been published online by the Islamic State.
Some of the bodies were thrown into the Tigris river and others buried in locations that were discovered when government and allied forces retook Tikrit from the Islamic State control two months ago.
Officials estimate that the number of people killed in what is known as the Speicher massacre, stands at 1,700 in one of the worst atrocities committed in Iraq in recent times.
The first list of the names of those identified is expected to be released next week.
Newsletter
