The Mass Graves Department in Iraq has begun the process of opening and exhuming the remains buried in the pit of Alu Antar, also known as “Al-Hamaem Pit,” which was used by the terrorist organization “ISIS” as a site for executions and disposing of the victims’ bodies.
The Alu Antar pit is located on the outskirts of Tal Afar, on the road to the Al-Ayadia district, about six kilometers north of the district center.
The operation to open the mass grave began yesterday, May 28th, after more than 10 years since “more than a thousand” people were executed and their remains thrown into the pit.
Diaa Karim, the director of the Mass Graves Affairs and Protection Department at the Martyrs Foundation, stated during a press conference that “This constitutes a heinous crime committed by ISIS terrorists and poses a significant challenge in the context of opening mass graves and identifying the victims.”
He confirmed that the first part of the operation is being carried out on an area of 20 to 30 square meters, with a depth ranging from 10 to 25 meters, in cooperation with other entities, including the Forensic Medicine Department in Baghdad, security forces, civil defense, health directorate, and international organizations.
According to investigations by the High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq, the Alu Antar pit contains the remains of “more than a thousand” Turkmen and Yazidi citizens who were executed by ISIS militants.
