Iraqi fighters from pro-government Popular Mobilization Units have found three mass graves containing the remains of over two dozen victims of the June 2014 massacre by Daesh at an air force camp.
Hussein al-Asadi, the Imam Battalion spokesman, said on Tuesday that his fellow fighters had found the graves inside former dictator Saddam Hussein’s palace compound in Tikrit in the north-central province of Salahuddin, Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network reported.
Asadi added that the mass graves contained the remains of more than 30 victims.
On June 12, 2014, Daesh killed around 1,700 Iraqi air force cadets after kidnapping them from Camp Speicher, a former US base. There were reportedly around 4,000 unarmed cadets in the camp when it came under attack by Daesh militants.
Following the abductions, the attackers took the victims to the complex of presidential palaces and killed them. The militants also threw some of the bodies into a river.
The massacre was filmed by Daesh and broadcast on social media.
An investigation committee later revealed that 57 members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party aided Daesh in the massacre.
Late last month, Iraqi judiciary officials hung 36 men convicted of involvement in the carnage.
Tikrit was recaptured from Daesh in March 2015. During clean-up operations in the northern part of the city, Iraqi forces found the location of the 2014 carnage.
Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh launched an offensive in June 2014, and took control of portions of Iraqi territory.
The militants have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.
Iraqi army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units are seeking to win back militant-held regions in joint operations.
