Mass Grave Exhumations Resume in Sinjar

On September 20, 2026, Iraq’s National Team for Mass Grave Excavations began a new round of mass grave exhumations in Sinjar. Work is underway at the Sharaf al-Din mass grave and will continue for 20 days.

The team brings together specialists from the Medico-Legal Directorate, the Directorate for the Protection of Mass Graves and Missing Persons, and the Martyrs' Foundation. Their task is to recover and identify victims of the Yazidi Genocide so families can lay them to rest with dignity and according to Yazidi tradition.

This round builds on earlier work. In February 2025, after Yazidi families pressed Iraqi officials in Baghdad for answers about their missing loved ones, exhumations began in Sinjar City, starting with a mass grave in the Azadi neighborhood. More graves were opened in December 2025, at sites including Hardan, Tel Banat, and the Nasr neighborhood of Sinjar City.

Nadia's Initiative is working in close coordination with the Directorate for the Protection of Mass Graves and Missing Persons and the field team to support this round of exhumations. For survivors, justice includes recovering the remains of their loved ones. Each identification returns a name to a family. Twelve years after the genocide began, many families are still waiting.