A high number of human bones were found in a cave in the Gulbiş hamlet linked to the village of Akyol in Dargeçit district of Mardin.

The bones are believed to belong to people who were forcibly disappeared and killed by JITEM in the 90s. In the images taken by villager Irfan Yakut, who lives in Altınoluk, human limbs and skulls are clearly identifiable. Speaking to ANF, Yakut said that treasure hunters took images of the bones they came across.

JİTEM, which was established and run secretly by the state in the 90s in Kurdistan, had kidnapped thousands of Kurds and buried them in mass graves after killing them. The bones of people who were thrown into acid wells and caves after being slaughtered were also found years later.

Yakut is the son of Yahya Yakut, who was abducted and murdered by JİTEM in 1993. Stating that he is very sensitive to the issue of the disappeared people being the son of a victim of the so called murders carried out by unknown people, Yakut said: “The area where the bones were located is a cave in the the hamlet of Gulbiş, near my village. I went there and took pictures because I knew about the bones being there. I counted at least 30 skulls. I think these belonged to people abducted in the 90s because similar mass graves were found in Dargeçit before."

Yakut said that he had filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office after finding the bones.