ISIS attacked the Yazidi city of Shengal (Sinjar) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2014 and committed genocide. The bodies of the victims were buried in mass graves.

A mass grave containing the remains of 20 people was discovered near Azadi Square in the center of Shengal.

Expert teams from Baghdad and Nineveh started efforts to open the mass grave. According to reports, the work will last for a week.

After the opening of the grave, DNA tests will be carried out to determine the identities of the victims.

Muhsin Mahmoud, one of the relatives of the victims, said that, according to the information he received, his relatives were buried in the mass grave. Mahmoud stated that he had repeatedly negotiated with Iraqi officials to open the grave.

Mahmoud said he recognized the remains of his mother, sister and three brothers in the mass grave.

The city of Shengal in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is the last contiguous settlement area of the Yazidi community. Thousands of Yazidis were murdered, and thousands of women and children were taken prisoner in the 3 August 2014 onslaught on Shengal by ISIS militants. While ISIS began murdering Yazidis in Shengal, the Peshmerga left, leaving the Yazidis behind, unprotected. The guerrillas of HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) and fighters of the YPG (People’s Defense Units) and YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) came to the Yazidi people's aid in the face of ISIS aggression. Thanks to a months-long selfless struggle, the city was liberated on 13 November 2015. After the liberation of the city, the HPG and YPG/YPJ subsequently withdrew in 2017. People who returned to their land after Shengal's independence reformed, established defensive units and built their institutions.