Iraq identifies more bodies from mass grave near Tikrit

BAGHDAD – Iraqi authorities say they have found the remains of another 158 people in a mass grave outside the city of Tikrit, where the Islamic State group is believed to have massacred hundreds of captured soldiers when it rampaged across the country in the summer of 2014.

Iraq’s forensic department said Monday it has identified a total of 1,153 bodies from the grave.

IS captured an estimated 1,700 soldiers after seizing Tikrit in 2014. The soldiers were trying to flee from nearby Camp Speicher, a former U.S. base just outside the northern city.

IS later circulated graphic images of gunmen shooting the soldiers dead after forcing them to lie face-down in a shallow ditch.