By Anas al-Bar | 2025-09-03

Iraqi specialists have begun the painstaking excavation of what may be the country's largest mass grave, a natural sinkhole where "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) operatives dumped the bodies of thousands of victims during their brutal three-year occupation.

The excavation at al-Khasfa, 20 kilometers south of Mosul, is the first large-scale effort to recover remains from the 150-meter-deep, 110-meter-wide natural crater that became a symbol of ISIS's campaign of terror between 2014 and 2017.

A team from the Mass Graves Protection and Missing Persons Directorate, working alongside local authorities, began an initial phase of the investigation on August 9 after years of delays due to hazardous conditions.

"It is too early to talk about the number of victims," Ahmad Qusay al-Asadi, head of the directorate's excavation team, told Al-Fassel.

His team is currently focused on collecting surface evidence and gathering visible human remains.

The operation faces extraordinary challenges beyond the site's massive depth, he said.

Toxic gases and unexploded ordnance make the site dangerous and demand specialized and international assistance for deep and complete exhumation.

The sulfurous water may have eroded the remains, potentially complicating DNA identification efforts that will be crucial for returning bodies to grieving families, al-Asadi noted.

Systematic slaughter

Ninawa Governor Abdulqadir al-Dakhil estimates approximately 20,000 people were executed and thrown into the pit.

The victims included Iraqi military personnel, government employees, academics, clerics and members of minority groups such as Yazidis and Christians.

Many came from across Iraq's central and southern provinces, according to al-Dakhil.

"In just one day, ISIS threw more than 2,000 victims into the pit," he told Al-Fassel.

They reportedly included 600 residents from Mosul's Wadi Hajar neighborhood.

Victims buried in the mass grave were killed "by direct gunfire, by having their throats slit, or by being thrown from tall buildings," he added.

Evidence of ISIS's brutality has already emerged from initial site examinations.

Al-Dakhil described discovering "bound and blindfolded remains, with skulls bearing bullet wounds."

He called the mass grave a deep scar in the hearts of residents and said it reveals "the true nature of the terrorists' beliefs, which deviate from religious principles and human values."

"They are merely bloodthirsty criminals who are only after their own interest," he added.

He stressed the need for continued vigilance against ISIS's extremist ideology to "prevent the recurrence of massacres and to ensure stability and development."

The al-Khasfa site is one of more than 200 mass graves left by ISIS in Iraq alone, according to the United Nations.