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Iraqi pro-government fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units have found a mass grave in the country’s northern province of Nineveh containing the bodies of dozens of Christians believed to have been executed by Daesh Takfiri terrorists, Press TV reported.

An unnamed source from the Syriac Orthodox Church told Arabic-language al-Ghad Press news agency that the volunteer forces, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, unearthed the mass grave along with security troops in Halila region near the village of Badush, located some 15 kilometers northwest of Mosul.

The source added the mass grave contains the bodies of 40 Christian victims, noting that there are the remains of women and children among the corpses. Some of the victims reportedly had small crosses with them.

The development came only two days after Iraqi army troops found a mass grave of 100 Daesh militants in al-Zarka region of the small town of Ba'aj.

Colonel Ali al-Taan told Arabic-language Basnews news agency that the corpses bore gunshot wounds to their heads and chests.

On December 9, 2017, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of military operations against the Daesh terrorist group in the Arab country.

On July 10, Abadi formally declared victory over ISIS extremists in Mosul, which served as the terrorists’ main urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden Arab country.