Eight years after the liberation of Nineveh Province from the grip of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, which occupied it between 2014 and 2017, the wounds of that bloody period in Iraq’s history remain unhealed.
Those wounds were revived on 17 August with the opening of the Al-Khasfa mass grave south of Mosul, the largest and most tragic of Iraq’s mass graves. This natural sinkhole was not merely a geological cavity but became a stage for mass extermination and was used to contain the remains of thousands of civilians as well as members of the army and police from Nineveh, in addition to those of Yazidis, Shia Turkmen, and other communities.
The Al-Khasfa pit, more than 20 metres deep, was turned by IS terrorists into a place for mass killing during its years of occupation. The group once declared that it had executed around 2,070 people in a single day. Official estimates suggest that the pit may contain up to 20,000 remains, making it, in the words of Iraqi political analyst Adel Al-Amash, “the largest IS mass grave not only in Iraq, but also in the region.”
“Its opening, 11 years after the crimes that caused it, is a step towards granting the victims’ families the recognition they deserve, both humanly and morally,” he said.
On 17 August, Iraq’s Directorate of Mass Graves announced the start of the first phase of excavations at Al-Khasfa, under judicial and security supervision and in the presence of Nineveh Governor Abdulqader Al-Dakhil and the directorate’s General Director Diaa Al-Saadi.
It explained that the operation includes “collecting forensic evidence, recovering scattered remains, and clearing the site of war remnants,” with the remains to be transferred to the Medico-Legal Directorate for DNA testing and matching with blood samples from the families of the missing.
An official in the directorate told news agencies that the initial stage would last for one week to collect samples, followed by later phases to be carried out with local and international support and involving engineering units and civil defence teams.
Al-Dakhil confirmed at a press conference that “Al-Khasfa is the largest mass grave in the world,” pointing out that it contains victims from across Nineveh’s diverse communities who were killed indiscriminately by IS.
“In a single day in 2015, IS executed more than 2,000 residents of Mosul,” he said, adding that “despite financial and security challenges, the local authorities are pressing ahead with the opening of Al-Khasfa, as it is the clearest proof that Mosul was among the foremost victims of IS.”
Al-Amash emphasised that the delay in opening the grave had been due to “administrative procedures and limited resources. The process requires international expertise and advanced technologies to preserve the remains and identify them in a way befitting the victims of genocide.”
Iraq’s Minister of Defence Thabet Al-Abbasi, described Al-Khasfa in an official statement as “evidence that those executed there were men of truth who faced the fiercest and most brutal organisation.”
“The blood of the martyrs, no matter how much time has passed, remains living testimony to the heroes of Nineveh who defended the land and dignity,” he said.
Al-Khasfa is not the only mass grave in Iraq. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and UNITAD, the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by IS, more than 200 mass graves have been documented in areas once controlled by IS, including 94 in Nineveh Province alone.
They include Badoush Prison, where about 600 prisoners were killed in a notorious massacre in 2014, and Sinjar, where more than 80 graves have been documented containing Yazidis subjected to genocide, as well as other sites in the Nineveh, Salaheddin, and Anbar Provinces, where dozens of other graves have been found containing the remains of civilians from different communities.
The United Nations has estimated that these mass graves may contain between 6,000 and 12,000 bodies, making them among the most horrific evidence of modern-day genocide.
From the perspective of international law, the atrocities fall under war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The Geneva Conventions prohibit the killing of prisoners and civilians and their burial in unmarked graves. The International Criminal Court (ICC) considers the mass extermination of groups based on identity as genocide, a crime that does not expire with time.
The opening of the Al-Khasfa mass grave does not only mean recovering remains and documenting crimes. It also represents restoring dignity to the victims in Nineveh and granting recognition to their families.
It is a message that Iraq is determined to uncover the truth about what happened under IS rule. While this step reopens painful wounds, it remains a humanitarian and legal necessity. It is proof that Iraqis will not forget, and it is done in the conviction that justice remains the only path to a future worthy of the sacrifices of the innocent.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 28 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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