A new mass grave found in Raqqa countryside

Raqqa- North-Press Agency
Ahmad al-Hassan

The Initial Response Team of Raqqa Civil Council continues to exhume bodies from mass graves throughout the city and its countryside. After the bodies were recovered from al-Mansoura Cemetery, in southwestern Raqqa countryside, of which their number reached about 40 bodies, the team moved to Cemetery No. 21 in al-Salhabiya village, 20km west of the city of Raqqa, following reports by locals indicating the existence of this cemetery.

Yaser al-Khamis, the head of the local relief team told North-Press that the team went to the site to begin the process of recovering the bodies, after reports by the residents on the existence of a cemetery in al-Huqoul area in the village of al-Salhabiya al-Gharbiya. Al-Khamis confirmed that nine bodies had been recovered so far, as the rest of the bodies were still being recovered.

Based on what residents said and samples taken from those bodies, al-Khamis noted that most of the victims were the result of field executions and aerial bombardment.
Moreover, the bodies which were recovered varied between shot-dead men, and children and women who were bombed by warplanes.
In turn, the coroner's assistant explained that the bodies are archived in a numerical sequence and then transferred to Jabal al-Shamiya cemetery to be buried orderly.

Furthermore, the head of the Initial Response Team Yaser al-Khamis, said that the team has recovered 15 bodies so far, of children, women and men, explaining that they cannot predict the number of bodies in this cemetery, due to its largeness.
It is worth mentioning that the team is working to recover the bodies with primitive tools such as shovels. Despite the lack of capabilities, the Team has recovered more than 5,400 bodies so far.