After the fall of Assad, the first signs of mass graves are found: ‘tens of thousands of bodies’

Now that the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fallen, the first stories and locations about discovered mass graves are coming out. Forensic teams in Syria and international researchers have found the first signs of mass graves.

On Monday, the remains of thirty bodies were discovered in a mass grave in southern Syria. Forensic teams are working with members of the rebel group HTS, which has ruled the country since the fall of the regime. Against the backdrop of rumbling excavators, bags of human remains were carefully carried away, AP news agency reported.

Elsewhere near the city of Najha, in the hills south of the Syrian capital Damascus, more and more bones are also visible, according to eyewitnesses. It is not yet possible to say how many graves there are, but there may be tens of thousands of bodies buried there.

Video evidence

It is no secret that Assad’s regime massacred Syrians. For example, a military photographer previously smuggled photos of tortured corpses out of the country. Almost all victims were marked with military secret service department numbers. More than 150,000 Syrians are still missing. Reported in 2022 NRC about unearthed videos showing civilians being executed by the Assad regime.

Despite videos, photos and satellite images of mass graves, the former Syrian government dismissed the allegations as rumors and fake news. Western powers and other opponents of Assad’s regime allegedly staged the images, the president claimed at the time.

100,000 bodies

The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a US-based Syrian advocacy group and one of the organizations investigating mass graves since the fall of Assad, says that 100,000 people are buried in a mass grave outside Damascus. That number is a first “cautious” estimate, the organization told Reuters. The interest group says it has spoken to bulldozer drivers who were forced to bury the bodies.

This enormous mass grave is said to be located in the town of Al-Qutayfah, forty kilometers north of the capital. It is one of five mass graves that the interest group has discovered in recent years, chairman Mouaz Moustafa reports to Reuters. Reuters says it cannot yet verify the chairman’s claims.

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