Iraqi security forces said on Wednesday that they had discovered mass graves of Islamic State (Isis) terrorists in al-Asri district of Baiji town. In all, 19 mass graves consisting 365 bodies were found, AFP reported.
Baiji, in Salahadin province, located 200 kilometres north of Iraq's capital Baghdad, was the scene of intense battle for the last 16 months between the IS and Iraqi security forces. The Iraqi sources did not say how long the bodies have been buried or how they were all identified as IS militants.
On Tuesday, 20 October, Raed Jabouri, the current governor of Salahadin, declared that Iraqi troops led by Tehran-backed Shiite militia were successful in re-capturing Baiji and the Albu Jawar area from Isis, according to news reports. IS militants had seized the towns since June 2014.
The Shiite militia had claimed re-capturing Baiji at various times in the past, but those claims have turned out to be false, RUDAW reported.
Tikrit, situated 170 kilometres north of Baghdad, is the capital of Salahudin and the hometown of Iraq's former president Saddam Hussein.
