Story highlights 1,300-1,500 Yazidis found in mass graves since 2015, official saysAuthorities expect to uncover more bodies in ISIS-held territoryIrbil, Iraq (CNN) The bodies of between 1,300 and 1,500 members of the Yazidi minority have been discovered near the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar since it was retaken from ISIS in 2015, a Kurdish official told CNN Tuesday. Thirty-five mass graves along with 100 individual graves have been unearthed, according to Hussein Hassoun, the spokesman of the Higher Committee to Introduce Yazidi Kurds. An Iraqi man inspects a mass grave near Sinjar in February 2015. "The mass graves are about 5 to 10 kilometers apart," Hassoun told CNN. A new mass grave was recently found in the Hardan area of Sinjar, the town's mayor told Rudaw news agency.

Source: CNN April 12, 2017 12:11 UTC