PM:09:28:22/02/2022
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SULAIMANI — Teams from the Ministry of Martyrs and
Anfal Affairs and Iraq’s Mass Graves Directorate (MGD) began the process of
exhuming mass graves containing the remains of Yazidis in the village of Hardan
in the north of Mount Sinjar on Tuesday (February 22).
A ceremony was held in the presence of representatives
from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the Iraqi government and the
United Nations, as well as families of the victims.
Nawshiran Sharif Saeed, the director-general of administration
and finance from the ministry of martyrs said the bodies will be exhumed and
sent to forensics in Baghdad for DNA testing.
The Yazidi advocacy organization Yazda said Hardan
was invaded by the Islamic State (ISIS) on August 3, 2014 and 132 former
residents of the village are still missing. It is presumed the remains of some
of the missing persons may be among those identified from the mass graves. A
further 362 Yazidis were kidnapped from the village.
Yazda said 18 mass graves were exhumed in Sinjar
between 2019 and 2020 and 145 victims were identified and buried. The group
said there are about 70 un-exhumed mass graves known in Sinjar and more are
being discovered.
The Free Yazidi Foundation shared a photo of an un-exhumed
mass grave in Hardan taken in 2016, which showed exposed pieces of bones and
the site marked with tape. "Grateful to those who have helped the deceased
finally have a dignified burial years later,” the group said.
Nadia’s Initiative, founded by Nobel Peace Laureate
Nadia Murad, said the village had 1,917 residents in 2014.
A report from the Kidnapped Yazidis Rescue Office said
1,293 people were killed in the first days of ISIS’ invasion of Sinjar, leaving
2,745 children orphaned. The office said 2,719 Yazidi women and girls who were
captured by ISIS are still missing.
(NRT Digital Media)