Scores of Yazidi mass graves found in Iraq's Sinjar

The mayor of Sinjar said that 31 graves had been found to date and that another 20 were expected.

1 min read

11 April, 2017

The grave of a Yazidi child who died in Dohuk of malnutrition [AFP]

Special teams have to date found a total of 31 mass graves of Yazidi people killed by Islamic State militants, the mayor of Sinjar told reporters.

A total of 1,646 people have been uncovered and investigators expect to unearth another 20 mass graves at the minimum, said Mahma Xelil.

The news came as another mass grave was discovered in the village of Hardan, near Sinjar.

However, Xelil has made exaggerated claims in the past. In November he said that 4,000 Peshmerga fighters had died fighting IS, whereas in December this figure was revised down to 1,600.

A 2016 AP survey of mass graves estimated that up to 15,000 people had been buried in 72 mass graves by IS militants.

Thousands of Yazidi men were murdered after IS militants took control of the Sinjar region because it was believed their religion promoted devil worship.

Thousands of Yazidi women and children were reportedly placed into sexual slavery and abused sexually by IS fighters.

International human rights lawyer, Amal Clooney urged the UN to look into gathering evidence of war crimes, calling the treatment of the Yazidi people "some of the worst crimes of our generation".