A Mass Grave in Syria with 200 Corpses

As many as 200 corpses, including of some people believed to have been killed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group, have been found in a mass grave near the Syrian city of Raqqa, AlJazeera reported.

Yasser al-Khamees, who leads a team of first responders, said on Wednesday the mass grave was discovered early last month on the southern edges of Raqqa, ISIL’s former de facto capital.

Among the bodies found, five appeared to belong to middle-aged men dressed in the orange jumpsuits typically worn by the armed group’s hostages, al-Khamees and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“They were shackled and shot in the head,” he said.

The bodies of three women, believed to have been stoned to death, were found, the official said, adding that “their skulls were severely fractured”.

As many as 800 people could be buried there in total, he said.

The discovery of the grave could help identify even more of the several thousand people whose fates remain unknown, including foreigners imprisoned by ISIL.

Source: A Mass Grave in Syria with 200 Corpses; NATO Ships Monitoring; NATO Membership for Georgia