More than 200 mass graves have been uncovered in Iraq in areas formerly controlled by ISIS terrorist group, according to a new report released by the United Nations on Tuesday.
The graves containing up to 12,000 victims include women, children, elderly and disabled, as well as members of Iraq's armed forces and police. According to the UN, this could hold vital evidence of war crimes.
The United Nations in Iraq (UNAMI) and its human rights office said they had documented a total of 202 mass graves in parts of western and northern Iraq held by ISIS between 2014 and 2017.
More sites could be found in the coming period, the report warned, calling on Iraqi authorities to properly preserve and excavate them to provide closure for victims' families.
"The mass grave sites documented in our report are a testament to harrowing human loss, profound suffering and shocking cruelty," said the UN's representative in Iraq, Jan Kubis.
"Determining the circumstances surrounding the significant loss of life will be an important step in the mourning process for families and their journey to secure their rights to truth and justice," he added.
ISIS overran swathes of Iraq in 2014, executing fighters and civilians en masse and using other forms of repression to seize and keep territory in the country's north and west, AFP reported.
