Iraq authorities open mass grave in Al-Khasfa, site of thousands of ISIS executions

MOSUL, Iraq — Mass graves continue to be uncovered across Iraq, revealing the remains of hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of victims killed by the Islamic State (ISIS) during its occupation of vast areas of the country, particularly in Nineveh Plains, home to a large Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian population.

These sites stand as harrowing reminders of the terror and brutality unleashed by ISIS between 2014 and 2017. Among them, the Al-Khasfa grave south of Mosul has emerged as one of the most haunting symbols of these atrocities, a place where massacres were carried out on such a scale that words scarcely capture their horror.

Nineveh Governor Abdulqader Aldakhil announced the opening of the mass grave at a press conference attended by Raed Hamid al-Muslih, head of the Nineveh Court of Appeals, along with several judicial and security officials. The move marks the beginning of the first phase of a project to recover and identify the remains of thousands of victims executed by ISIS.

محافظ نينوى عبد القادر الدخيل ورئيس استئناف نينوى القاضي رائد المصلح يعلنان بدء فتح مقبرة الخسفة، إحدى أضخم المقابر الجماعية في التاريخ، لتوثيق الجرائم وضمان حقوق الشهداء وذويهم بإشراف قضائي وأمني وطبي pic.twitter.com/UmnIDv32yC

— عبد القادر الدخيل – Abdulqader Aldakhil (@abdulqader_d) August 17, 2025

Aldakhil estimated that around 20,000 people from different religions and ethnic groups were buried there. He noted that on a single day more than 2,000 people were executed, including 600 residents of the Wadi Hajar region.

Preliminary assessments suggest that the excavation and analysis of the site could take several years and require significant financial resources, estimated at nearly 40 billion Iraqi Dinars (about 30.5 million US Dollars).

Authorities also announced plans to establish a memorial at the site, both to honor the victims and to preserve the memory of one of the darkest chapters in Iraq’s modern history.

The Al-Khasfa grave is a deep natural sinkhole located along the Mosul–Baghdad road, about 20 kilometers south of Mosul. During its reign of terror, ISIS used the pit as a mass execution site, disposing of thousands of bodies within it. In a later attempt to conceal its crimes, the militants filled the sinkhole with sand and steel debris, leaving behind a chilling monument to their atrocities.