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| Iraq |
| Ex-ISIS Iraq territory reveals mass graves |
| 2016-05-07 |
| More than 50 mass graves have been discovered in territory formerly controlled by ISIS fighters in Iraq, including three burial pits in a football field, the UN envoy said Friday. Jan Kubis told the Security Council that evidence of the “heinous crimes” committed by the militants in Iraq were being uncovered as territory is retaken from ISIS. “More than 50 mass graves have been discovered so far in several areas of Iraq,” he said. Iraqi forces, with backing from the US-led coalition that carries out daily air strikes against ISIS, have retaken significant ground from the militants in recent months. In the city of Ramadi, three graves containing a total of up to 40 sets of remains were found in a football field on April 19, said Kubis. Ramadi was declared liberated when Iraqi forces seized the main government compound back from ISIS late last year, but the city was completely retaken only in February. The envoy said the humanitarian crisis was worsening in Iraq, with nearly a third of the population, or over 10 million people, now requiring urgent aid - double the number from last year. He projected that a further two million people could be displaced by the end of the year by new military campaigns aimed at driving out ISIS. Iraqi and Kurdish forces launched an offensive in March in the province of Nineveh, of which ISIS-controlled Mosul is the capital. The militants have held Mosul since June 2014. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Economy of scale |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-05-07 10:20 |