Thousands of Iraqi Turkmens, who have not heard from their missing loved ones for years, are waiting for the bodies of their loved ones to be taken out of ISIS’s “massacre well.” The well, which is located approximately 10 kilometers south of the Tal Afar district and is known as the “Allav Anter” well by locals and is more than 100 meters deep, was named the “Hell Well” by the terrorist organization ISIS.
ISIS executed thousands of people and threw them into this well after taking control of the region on June 9, 2014. Turkmens report that their relatives who were kidnapped by ISIS and whose fate they could not obtain information about were thrown into this well.
With the initiative of Turkmen institutions, associations and non-governmental organizations, this mass grave was opened by the Iraqi government after 10 years and the bodies began to be exhumed.
Turhan Ketene, the President of the Turkmeneli Cooperation and Culture Foundation, stated that there are more than 1,000 bodies of Tal Afar Turkmens in this deep well, which was turned into a mass grave by the terrorist organization ISIS.
Ketene said they informed government officials 6 years ago that the well was a mass grave and requested that the recently initiated exhumation of bodies and remains continue.
Reminding that ISIS committed mass murder against humanity here, Ketene called for the body recovery efforts to be uninterrupted and for the bodies of thousands of missing people to be found as soon as possible.
Tal Afar District Governor Halil Muhsin stated that they estimated that there were more than 1,500 bodies in the well based on the information and documents they obtained from non-governmental organizations.
Muhsin reported that the efforts to remove the remains of bodies from the well have been continuing for about a month and a half, and emphasized that it is estimated that there are still many bodies of missing people in the mass grave.
Reminding that ISIS committed mass murder against humanity here according to the international human rights declaration, Muhsin asked for the work to be accelerated and for DNA testing to be carried out.
Ali Habib, the Tal Afar Coordinator of the Turkmeneli Human Rights Center affiliated with the Turkmeneli Cooperation and Culture Foundation, said that according to the images previously released by the terrorist organization ISIS and the statements of eyewitnesses from the local people, there were bodies of Turkmens who were executed in the well.
Habib stated that more than 200 remains were removed from the well during the work that has been going on for about a month and a half, and that the remains were sent to the Iraqi Ministry of Health for DNA testing.
Habib said the mass grave in the well was the largest mass grave found in Mosul since the clearing of ISIS from the region.
Habib said that the dust storm and hot weather made the work difficult and expressed hope that the work would be accelerated and more bodies of missing people would be found.
