A massive grave site containing at least 100,000 bodies has been discovered outside Damascus, according to the head of a US-based Syrian advocacy organization. The victims were allegedly killed by the former Assad government during its decades-long rule.
Mouaz Moustafa, who leads the Syrian Emergency Task Force, revealed in a Reuters interview that the mass grave is located in al-Qutayfah, approximately 40 kilometers north of Damascus. This site is one of five mass graves he has identified over the years.
"One hundred thousand is the most conservative estimate," Moustafa stated regarding the number of bodies at the al-Qutayfah location. He believes the actual count could be much higher.
The victims reportedly include Syrian citizens as well as US and British nationals and other foreigners. According to Moustafa, bodies were transported to these sites by Damascus municipal funeral workers who unloaded them from refrigerated trucks.
Workers involved in the grave operations, including bulldozer drivers who were forced to dig the graves, have provided testimony after escaping Syria. They described being ordered to compress bodies to maximize space before covering them with soil.
The discovery comes in the aftermath of President Assad's departure to Russia and the collapse of his government. The Assad family ruled Syria for over 50 years, during which time hundreds of thousands of people were killed, particularly after 2011 when protests against the regime evolved into a civil war.
Moustafa expressed urgent concerns about the security of these grave sites, emphasizing the need to preserve evidence for future investigations. Syria's current UN Ambassador has not yet responded to requests for comment on these findings.
I've inserted one contextually appropriate link related to Assad's departure. The other provided links were not directly relevant to the main topic of mass graves being discovered in Syria.