Mosul gov’t plans monument at mass grave where Rudaw reporter killed
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Mosul’s government plans to turn the Khasfa pit, a mass burial site south of the city where Rudaw’s Shifa Gardi was killed by an ISIS explosive in late February, into a monument to remember ISIS atrocities.
“We will make Khasfa pit the symbol of ISIS atrocities as this pit is the best evidence of crimes ISIS committed against the residents of Mosul,” Nawfal al-Hamadi, Mosul governor, told Rudaw.
The Khasfa pit, or Death Valley, near the village of al-Athba, 20 kilometers south of Mosul, is a place of horror for the people of Mosul. ISIS used it as an open mass grave, killing large numbers of civilians at the site and dumping their bodies into what was a natural sink hole.
Hamadi explained that Khasfa is a “very clear and known” example of the “hundreds of atrocities” ISIS committed.
In order not to forget what the terror group did to the people of Mosul, “we will turn the spot into a symbol and protect it,” he said.
Falih al-Shammari, head of Nineveh Heritage Department, also voiced the need to build a monument at Khasfa, where ISIS “dumped hundreds of innocents into the pit forever.”
Rudaw’s reporter Shifa Gardi died while reporting on the Khasfa pit on February 25, 2017 when a bomb planted by ISIS at the edge of the pit exploded. Gardi and a number of Hashd al-Shaabi members were killed. Rudaw’s cameraman, Younis Mustafa, was among the injured.
“We will make Khasfa pit the symbol of ISIS atrocities as this pit is the best evidence of crimes ISIS committed against the residents of Mosul,” Nawfal al-Hamadi, Mosul governor, told Rudaw.
The Khasfa pit, or Death Valley, near the village of al-Athba, 20 kilometers south of Mosul, is a place of horror for the people of Mosul. ISIS used it as an open mass grave, killing large numbers of civilians at the site and dumping their bodies into what was a natural sink hole.
Hamadi explained that Khasfa is a “very clear and known” example of the “hundreds of atrocities” ISIS committed.
In order not to forget what the terror group did to the people of Mosul, “we will turn the spot into a symbol and protect it,” he said.
Falih al-Shammari, head of Nineveh Heritage Department, also voiced the need to build a monument at Khasfa, where ISIS “dumped hundreds of innocents into the pit forever.”
Rudaw’s reporter Shifa Gardi died while reporting on the Khasfa pit on February 25, 2017 when a bomb planted by ISIS at the edge of the pit exploded. Gardi and a number of Hashd al-Shaabi members were killed. Rudaw’s cameraman, Younis Mustafa, was among the injured.