11/06/2018 Iraq (International Christian Concern) – According to a report released by the UN, over 200 mass graves have been left behind in areas formerly controlled by the Islamic State (ISIS). The report estimates that between 6,000 and 12,000 victims were buried at these sites and warns that the majority of the victims will most likely never be identified.
ISIS had no mercy for religious minorities and anyone who opposed their ideology. Their deadly violence has left a profound impact on areas which had previously been under the militants’ harsh rule. The mass graves which have been discovered are a tragic testament to the horror of ISIS’s legacy, and additional graves continue to be discovered.
The Nineveh Plains was one of the areas previously under ISIS’s control and is the traditional homeland of many of Iraq’s Christians. When ISIS swept through the Nineveh Plains in 2014, most Christians fled to neighboring Kurdistan. Although ISIS was declared militarily defeated in 2017, many Christians have not returned to the Nineveh Plains. Reminders of ISIS’s brutality are everywhere in the region. Infrastructure remains lacking and the security situation is unpredictable.
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