Twenty-two bodies found in Iraq mass grave
The remains of 22 bodies were found today in a mass grave south of Najaf dating back apparently to the 1991 Shiite uprising against Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces, police said.
Police officer Ali Abdul Hussein said the bodies were found in Kifil, about 20 miles south of Najaf, by labourers using a bulldozer to excavate earth near a water pipeline.
Local residents identified several of the bodies by their identity documents, telling police that they were people who went missing during the Shiite uprising against Saddam’s forces following the US-led 1991 Gulf War in neighbouring Kuwait.
Hussein said the bodies included remains of young children and women.
The remains were left in the grave and are expected to undergo medical testing to try determine exact causes of death.
Human rights organisations estimate that more than 300,000 people, mainly Kurds and Shiite Muslims, were killed and buried in mass graves during Saddam’s reign, which ended when US-led forces toppled his regime in 2003.
