Iraq mass graves unearthed after Tikrit liberation

Forensic experts in Iraq have begun exhuming some of the mass graves in which Islamic state extremists are believed to have buried the bodies of hundreds of Iraqi soldiers.

Human remains are found at a site believed to be a mass grave containing the bodies of Iraqi soldiers killed by Islamic State group militants (IS) in Tikrit, northern Iraq, 07 April 2015. (EPA/ALI MOHAMMED)

Iraqi forces have dug up 12 mass graves found in the city of Tikrit, where it is believed that hundreds of soldiers were killed by the Islamic State last June.

Tikrit police says the mass graves were discovered in the presidential palace complex, located in the centre of the city.

There are indications that the remains belong to soldiers of Camp Speicher, an air base located north of Tikrit taken in June by IS, where an estimated 1,700 soldiers were killed.

"These graves contain the bones of the troops who were executed by the IS. Identification documents and uniforms of the dead troops were found," said Shamel Ahmed al-Jabouri.

Discovery of the mass graves began after Iraqi troops liberated Tikrit on March 31.