Confessions of Captured Iraqi Daesh Member Uncover Mass Grave in Fallujah

Members of the Iraqi forces during a previous chase operation of Daesh members (Reuters)
Members of the Iraqi forces during a previous chase operation of Daesh members (Reuters)
TT

Confessions of Captured Iraqi Daesh Member Uncover Mass Grave in Fallujah

Members of the Iraqi forces during a previous chase operation of Daesh members (Reuters)
Members of the Iraqi forces during a previous chase operation of Daesh members (Reuters)

The official spokesman for the Iraqi Security Service, Arshad Al-Hakim, announced on Sunday that the authorities have found the remaining bodies of the victims of Al-Musalaha mass grave, located in Fallujah.
This discovery comes after the Iraqi forces captured a senior Daesh leader, known as Abu Hiba, in Anbar, officials reported.
Abu Hiba allegedly admitted his role as the security official for the Fallujah district under Daesh control and disclosed the location of a mass grave in Fallujah’s Al-Musalaha cemetery.
The grave contained bodies of security personnel and civilians, with five individuals found, two of whom have been identified.
“The number of victims found aligns with Abu Hiba’s confessions,” Al-Hakim stated.
Investigations are underway to identify the remaining victims.
Abu Hiba’s arrest follows a months-long intelligence operation conducted by the security services in Iraq, which also uncovered the location of the mass grave, the spokesperson said.
Fallujah, one of the most important cities in the western Anbar Governorate, emerged among the largest strongholds of opposition to the regime established by the United States in Iraq in 2003. The city was the main incubator of terrorist and extremist groups from Al-Qaeda, and later ISIS, but today it is considered one of the calmest cities in the Anbar area.
On a different note, a Baghdad court issued death sentences on Sunday for eight individuals charged with aiding two suicide bombers for attacks which took place in Iraq around nine years ago.
A statement from the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court said that the eight men had “confessed to transporting two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Bab al-Sharqi area and al-Wathba Square in 2015,” referring to two popular shopping locations in the Iraqi capital.
The sentences and executions carried out by the Iraqi authorities in accordance with Article 4 of the Counter-Terrorism Law were criticized by the Special Commissioner of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The Commissioner stated in a report submitted to the Security Council at the end of June that Iraq’s “systematic executions of prisoners sentenced to death based on torture-tainted confessions, and pursuant to an ambiguous counterterrorism law, amount to arbitrary deprivation of life under international law and may amount to a crime against humanity.”

 



Sisi, King Abdullah Agree that Gaza Should Be Rebuilt Without Displacing Palestinians

Palestinians travel from the southern Gaza Strip towards the north following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Netzarim Corridor, central Gaza Strip, 12 February 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Palestinians travel from the southern Gaza Strip towards the north following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Netzarim Corridor, central Gaza Strip, 12 February 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
TT

Sisi, King Abdullah Agree that Gaza Should Be Rebuilt Without Displacing Palestinians

Palestinians travel from the southern Gaza Strip towards the north following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Netzarim Corridor, central Gaza Strip, 12 February 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Palestinians travel from the southern Gaza Strip towards the north following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Netzarim Corridor, central Gaza Strip, 12 February 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II said that Gaza should be rebuilt without displacing Palestinians, Egypt's presidency said in a statement reporting a phone call between the two on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump has continued to push for a plan to resettle the Palestinian population to both Egypt and Jordan, a proposal both countries have rejected repeatedly.

King Abdullah rejected any mass displacement of Palestinians after meeting with Trump on Tuesday.

During the meeting at the White House, Abdullah volunteered to accept up to 2,000 children from Gaza who have cancer or otherwise require medical treatment.
But in a post on X after the meeting, he “reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank," adding that it was a "unified Arab position.”

The Palestinians also reject Trump's plan, which they view as an attempt to forcibly displace them from part of their homeland.