16 mass graves found in Sinjar

GENEVA: Sixteen mass graves have been discovered in Sinjar in northern Iraq since it was recaptured from Daesh, the UN said Friday, which also detailed “gross human rights violations” by the extremist group.
The UN human rights group said civilians had been kidnapped, burned and beheaded in Daesh-controlled areas, with “widespread” attacks on Sunnis suspected of supporting the terrorists.
“We have received reports that some 16 mass graves containing the bodies of individuals murdered by Daesh have been discovered in Sinjar,” said Cecile Pouilly, spokeswoman for the UN human rights agency.
It is not clear how many bodies were in the graves and where exactly in Sinjar they were located, she told reporters in Geneva.
Daesh overran Sinjar in August 2014 and carried out a brutal campaign of massacres, enslavement and rape, targeting members of the Yazidi minority, which made up most of its inhabitants.
Pouilly meanwhile warned that many of the Sunni Arab communities in parts of Iraq reclaimed from Daesh were suffering increasing human rights abuses.
“Sunni Arab communities have faced increasing discrimination, harassment and violence from other ethnic and religious groups who accuse them of supporting Daesh,” she said.
“Reports indicate that Iraqi security forces, Kurdish security forces and their respective affiliated militias have been responsible for looting and destruction of property belonging to the Sunni Arab communities, forced evictions, abductions, illegal detention and, in some cases, extra-judicial killings,” she warned.
Pouilly described the attacks as “widespread” and said they were particularly prevalent in Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah Al-Din and Kurdistan.