Bodies of 1,236 civilians found in three mass graves in Raqqa

The bodies of over 1,200 civilians, the majority of whom are women and children, were found buried in three mass graves in Syria’s Raqqa, according to local sources.

A video published on the official Twitter account of the Raqqa Civil Council's Reconstruction Committee showed bodies being extracted from mass graves.

“Nearly 1,236 bodies have so far been exhumed from three mass graves that were uncovered in Raqqa, not including those buried under the rubble of homes and undisclosed locations,” a caption accompanying the photo reads.

They’re said to have been all killed during the U.S.-led coalition’s ferocious aerial campaign against Daesh terrorists in the region, which turned the city of Raqqa to rubble.

Amnesty International, a human rights group, previously warned, attacks by the U.S.-led coalition against Daesh in Syria’s Raqqa last year violated international law by endangering civilian lives.

Back in April, photos showing workers extracting bodies from mass graves were posted on social media platforms.

An explosive 70-page report released by Amnesty Internatıonal back in June, titled “War of Annihilation”: Devastating Toll on Civilians, Raqqa – Syria, revealed the shocking extent of the destruction U.S.-led coalition forces have wrecked upon the city, which left thousands of civilians dead and injured.

The report went on to reveal that four families lost at least 90 of their relatives and neighbors in the aftermath of U.S. bombardment on Raqqa.

In June, the Coalition finally admitted to killing more than 40 civilians in airstrikes that targeted a school in Raqqa’s al-Mansourah in March 2017.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) had previously reported the case in September 2017, which was then denied by the U.S.-led coalition, keeping the report classified as “non-credible” for 15 months after it initially surfaced.

A BBC report titled “Raqqa’s dirty secret” exposed a secret deal with the U.S. that enabled hundreds of Daesh terrorists to flee Syria’s Raqqa.

In October, hundreds of Daesh terrorists escaped from Raqqa following a deal with the U.S. and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK)/Democratic Union Party (PYD). The report says that the convoy included some of the terrorist organization’s “most notorious members and dozens of foreign fighters. Some of those have spread out across Syria, even making it as far as Turkey.”

The report said that aircraft, including drones, followed the convoy. “When the last of the convoy were about to cross, a U.S. jet flew very low and deployed flares to light up the area,” it added.