More than 800 bodies found in Iraqi mass grave

2011-04-13 17:18:14 GMT+7 (ICT)

BAGHDAD (BNO NEWS) -- The bodies of more than 800 people who were killed under the regime of Saddam Hussein have been found in a mass grave in western Iraq, a government official told a local news agency on Tuesday.

Human Rights Ministry spokesman Kamel Amin told the Aswat al-Iraq news agency that the mass grave was recently discovered by a resident in Al Anbar Governorate, which is the country's largest province. He gave no details about the specific location of the grave.

"The graveyard has been discovered by one of the citizens of Anbar Province, who passed the information to our Ministry, that sent our specialized teams in mass graveyards to check the venue of the graveyard," Amin told the news agency.

The spokesman said a total of 812 corpses had been recovered from the mass grave, all whom were killed between 1980 and 1989 under the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein. His regime came to an end in April 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion.

Amin said some of the victims, which included men, women and children, had been shot in the head. "[They belonged] to different Iraqi nationalities, some of them with military uniforms and others wearing Kurdish and Arab costumes," he added.

The Iraqi government is currently attempting to identify the victims in order to notify their families.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-04-13

Just a little reminder that Iraq is better off without Saddam.