Kurds find mass grave of ‘IS victims’ in Iraq

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq: Kurdish forces in northern Iraq on Thursday found a mass grave containing the bodies of at least 11 Iraqi policemen presumed killed by jihadists, a peshmerga security official said.

"A mass grave was discovered on Thursday in the Duraji area" where there are many caves once used as hideouts by the Islamic State group (IS), the official said. Duraji is in Salaheddin province in an area disputed between the federal government and the autonomous region of Kurdistan.

"The bodies of at least 11 Iraqi police officers have been taken from the grave so far" since the operation began in the morning, said the official. "We think they had been prisoners of IS in 2018," the official said, adding that both peshmerga and Iraqi federal police were taking part in the search.