A new mass grave, including 200 bodies of Syrian army soldiers, was exhumed in eastern Raqqa province, Raqqa’s First Response Team said Tuesday.
At least 200 bodies were recovered from the Hamarat area, east of Raqqa city, according to Yaser al-Khamis, head of Response Team.
Since the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Raqqa in 2017, forensic teams have begun to lift bodies that are believed to have been buried there during the four-month campaign to liberate the city.
So far, 5,500 bodies have been exhumed from mass graves in the areas of the al-Rasheed Stadium, the zoo, the Bedouin neighborhood, and the ancient mosque.
In 2014, regime forces found a mass grave near Tabqa air base, containing the bodies of 60 troops killed by ISIS in 2014.
Activists said the victims in the mass graves were not only killed by ISIS, but also by the US-led International Coalition airstrikes and the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Syrian Democratic Forces have been the main partner of the US-led coalition against ISIS in Syria, helping drive the jihadists out of swathes of northern and eastern Syria.
ISIS has been largely defeated in the country but has continued to carry out ambushes, assassinations and bombings there and still poses a threat along its border with Syria.
Last week, ISIS killed 19 regime troops in a desert town near Palmyra city.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
