After Nineveh, Dhi Qar hands over remains of two ISIS Badush massacre victims

Shafaq News – Dhi Qar

Iraq’s Forensic Medicine Department in Dhi Qar handed over the remains of two victims of the Badush prison massacre to their families on Thursday after completing all legal and technical procedures, according to an official statement.

Department Director Maytham Mohammed Al-Bakka said the remains had been previously identified through DNA testing and were received from the Forensic Medicine Department in Baghdad to ensure full conformity with official records for each case, adding that the handover took place at the Forensic Medicine Department in Dhi Qar under formal delivery protocols, following verification of the families’ identification documents and full documentation of the procedures in line with approved legal instructions.

Earlier today, Iraq’s Forensic Medicine Department announced the handover of the remains of 70 other victims of the Badush massacre to their families in Nineveh province.

The Badush massacre occurred in June 2014 after ISIS seized Mosul and Badush prison north of the city, where more than 670 detainees were executed on sectarian grounds.

According to a 2018 report by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), at least 202 mass grave sites linked to ISIS crimes have been documented in Nineveh, Kirkuk, Saladin, and Al-Anbar provinces, with UN estimates placing the number of victims buried in these graves between 6,000 and 12,000.