Mass grave found in Paluja city area • Assessment: The people were murdered in 2016 during ISIS operation at the site • The bodies of children were also found

• Paloja // Photo Archive: AFP

ISIS horrors in Iraq are exposed: A mass grave with 643 bodies was found Sunday in the region of Paluja, Anbar district. The Al-Arab TV channel and Russian news agency Tass were informed of this.

Iraqi authorities estimate that the people were murdered in 2016 while the area was controlled by ISIS operatives. The exact location is 5 km north of Paluja. Initial investigations revealed that the murderers apparently belonged to the al-Muhammadan tribe, which was already reported to have disappeared. The authorities added that the bodies of children were also found.

Iraq: Army declares victory over ISIS

Remember, ISIS operatives occupied a third of Iraq's territory in the summer of 2014. In June of that year, they took over Mosul, the country's second-largest city, and declared it the same stage as the capital of the caliphate (which eventually passed Syrian non-Raqqa).

In 2015, with the assistance of international coalition forces, Iraqi government forces began an extensive campaign to liberate the occupied territories. In December, two years ago, then-prime minister of Iraq, Hyder al-Abadi, declared ISIS final defeat. Since then, the crimes of the "Islamic State" have been discovered in the north and west of the country.