Thread by @jenanmoussa

1/ I am in Raqqa, #Syria. Search team here found bodies of 5 men wearing orange "execution suits" in #ISIS mass grave.

Identities unknown. Team leader tells me: Might be missing journalists, activists, etc.

These are 1st images. My report @akhbar 👇

2/ As my report is in Arabic, l'll explain in this thread in English the details regarding the 5 bodies found in orange execution suits.

I visited the #ISIS mass grave close to Raqqa, spoke on & off camera to members of search team, head of team & forensic pathologist.

@akhbar

3/ First the facts:

The 5 bodies found in ISIS mass grave in Raqqa are:

-All males.
-All dressed in #ISIS trademark orange "execution suits".
-All handcuffed (plastic handcuffs)
-All shot in the back of the head.

Identities of the victims are not known yet. See pics 👇

4/ I have detailed videos and photos of how the five men were found.

We published the pictures showing the orange execution suits and cuffed hands.

Images showing sculls of the victims with bullet holes in head are too gruesome for publication.

@akhbar

5/ According to the Syrian forensic pathologist I spoke to near the side of the mass grave outside Raqqa, the 5 victims dressed in orange "execution suits" were most probably killed either in 2015 or 2016.

@akhbar

6/ In Raqqa, I also saw the "death record", which is a report based on the findings of the forensic pathologist.

It is written in it that the 5 victims found in #ISIS mass grave were respectively 25, 27, 30, 35, 55 yrs old at time of execution. Of course these are approximates.

7/ The "death record" also mentions that the 5 bodies found in ISIS mass grave in orange "execution suits" are "shot in the head from the back at a close range."

@akhbar

8/ Location of the ISIS graveyard where the mass grave was found containing the five bodies of executed ISIS victims is called "Mu'askar al Tala'e".

So far around 200 bodies have been found there. All bodies will be reburied in a place called "Al Shamiya mountain".

@akhbar

9/ In addition to the 5 bodies in orange "execution suits", bodies of 3 females were found in different mass grave at the same "Mu'askar al Tala'e" site.

Acc to authorities, forensic pathologist noticed large number of impacts on bodies &heads. They haven't been identified yet.

10/ This is 3rd time that bodies dressed in orange "execution suits" have been found in ISIS mass graves.

Once 1 body in orange "execution suit" was found in AlOukersha village (near Raqqa). His family identified him. He was a Kurd. ISIS filmed his execution &put video online.

11/ The 2nd time a body in orange suit was found, it was in ISIS grave yard of Firqa 17.

It was taken by coalition for DNA testing acc to an official.

Raqqa's local council hasn't heard anything about it since.

So this is 1st time multiple bodies in orange suits are found.

12/ None of the 200 bodies which have until now been found at ISIS "Mu'askar al Tala'e" grave yard have been identified yet.

Not the five men in orange execution suits, not the three stoned women and also not the other 190+.

@akhbar

13/ Except for the 8 bodies (5men, 3women) found in two mass graves, all other 190+ graves contained one body each.

But these 190+ unidentified people aren't necessarily all ISIS victims. They might be dead ISIS fighters or civilians who died in coalition bombings of Raqqa.

14/ In total, authorities in Raqqa found 4600 bodies at 14 separate ISIS grave yards. 800 bodies identified by family members.

Over 3500 not identified. Again, these 3500 aren't automatically ISIS victims but could also be ISIS fighters or civilians killed by coalition strikes.

15/ You might ask: Why haven't these 3500 bodies in Raqqa still not been identified?

Well, authorities here in Raqqa (a city which is almost totally destroyed) don't have the capacity to do DNA testing. The coalition hasn't supplied Raqqa with any equipment for that matter.

16/ Only since 3 months ago, Raqqa council started keeping DNA samples of each body they find in ISIS grave yards.

Before, they would only re-bury bodies at different location. So this complicates identification process.

Hope here is that coalition will help with DNA testing.

17/ What will happen now to the 5 bodies found in orange "execution suits" in ISIS mass grave? That's unclear.

Raqqa council took DNA samples of 5 bodies but they can't do DNA testing in Raqqa. It has to happen somewhere else.

Will coalition ask for samples? I don't know.

18/ Follow up: DNA samples of the five ISIS victims dressed in orange "execution suits" who were found in a mass grave near Raqqa are still in the hands of Raqqa Civil Council.

There is no possibility to do DNA testing in Raqqa. So the samples are just laying there.

@akhbar

19/ #BREAK: A 6th body dressed in orange "execution suit" was found yesterday (Wednesday) at #ISIS grave yard in Raqqa, Syria.

Acc to source I spoke to, victim is unidentified male wearing handcuffs who was shot in the head. Body found in a single grave. I blurred pic.

@akhbar

20/ For those asking, here location of ISIS grave yard just outside Raqqa where among over 200+ remains, a total of 6 bodies were found in orange "execution suits". 5 on Sunday, 1 yesterday.

Dropped pin Near Ar-Raqqah District, Syria. goo.gl/maps/EHc6s5PD4…