Another mass grave of civilians from Saddam Hussein’s era has been discovered in Saqlawa, near Fallujah in Anbar province, Iraq, following the arrest of several former Ba’ath regime officers, including Lieutenant General Sa’adoun Sabri al-Qaisi, Iraqi media has reported. Iraqi security authorities, in coordination with the Martyrs Institute and the Collective Graves Institute, are set to assess the site.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the mass grave contains the remains of approximately 25 men and women, with clear signs of torture visible on their bodies. Additionally, evidence suggests that five individuals were executed at the burial site. The possibility of other groups’ involvement in these executions remains under investigation.
Zargham Kamil, head of Iraq’s mass graves committee, stated that based on ongoing investigations and the recent testimony of Sa’adoun Sabri al-Qaisi, it has been confirmed that these individuals were executed during Saddam Hussein’s rule. However, their identities remain unknown. According to al-Qaisi’s statements, it is also possible that the remains of the family of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are among those buried in one of the mass graves.
On 2 February, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani announced the arrest of former Ba’ath regime officers suspected of involvement in the execution of Shiite cleric Mohammad Baqir Al-Sadr, his sister, and other dissidents in the 1980s under Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Al-Sadr, a founder of the Islamic Al-Da’awa Party, had issued a religious edict banning Ba’ath Party membership, leading to his execution in 1980 on charges of espionage and collaboration with Iran.
National Security Agency spokesperson Arshad Al-Hakim confirmed that five senior officers were arrested under Iraq’s anti-Ba’athist law. Lieutenant General Sa’adoun Sabri admitted to executing Al-Sadr in April 1980. Alongside him, four officers confessed to mass executions, collectively responsible for the deaths of an estimated 24,000 Kurdish, Communist, and Islamist opposition members.
Efforts to uncover mass graves from Saddam Hussein’s era continue. In the most recent discovery on 19 January 2025, two mass graves were found in the Tal Sheikh area. Further analysis revealed that the remains belong to 155 individuals executed in the 1980s.
These discoveries are part of Iraq’s broader efforts to confront the legacy of the Ba’ath regime and bring justice to the victims’ families, highlighting the enduring impact of past atrocities on the country’s social and political fabric.
