Peregraf
Iraqi forensic authorities have unearthed a mass grave in Kirkuk’s western Hawija district, containing the remains of 17 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who were killed during the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Yasmine Mounther, head of the Mass Graves Department—part of Iraq’s Department of Forensic Medicine—confirmed the discovery in a press briefing on Thursday. "The remains found belong to 17 members of the Peshmerga," she stated.
To identify the victims, officials launched a two-day campaign in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, collecting blood samples from families who may be related to the fallen fighters. Mounther added that additional samples will be gathered from potential relatives in the coming week.
Although ISIS’s self-declared caliphate was officially dismantled in late 2017—three years after seizing vast territories in Iraq—the group's legacy of destruction remains. Hidden explosives continue to pose threats, while sleeper cells still carry out attacks.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces played a crucial role in resisting ISIS, engaging in battles on multiple fronts to prevent the group’s incursion into Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-controlled areas.
Hawija, a district southwest of Kirkuk province, had long been an ISIS stronghold and was among the last territories liberated from the group’s control.
According to the KRG, more than 2,000 Peshmerga fighters lost their lives and over 10,000 others were wounded during the prolonged war against ISIS.