Iraqi Premier Briefs Pence On Efforts To Exhume Yazidi Mass Graves In Sinjar - White House

US Vice President Mike Pence and Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi have discussed the ongoing efforts to exhume the mass graves of Yazidis massacred by the Islamic State (IS, outlawed in Russia) in Sinjar, the White House announced on Monday in a readout of a phone call between the two leaders

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2019) US Vice President Mike Pence and Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi have discussed the ongoing efforts to exhume the mass graves of Yazidis massacred by the Islamic State (IS, outlawed in Russia) in Sinjar, the White House announced on Monday in a readout of a phone call between the two leaders.

"Prime Minister Abd al-Mahdi also updated the Vice President on the Iraqi government's efforts to exhume the mass graves of ISIS's genocide against Yazidis in Sinjar and the Prime Minister conveyed that he would personally investigate security and economic impediments noted by the Vice President as preventing the return of many of Iraq's religious components and other displaced persons," the release said.

Pence and Abd al-Mahdi also discussed ways to boost the strategic partnership between Washington and Baghdad, as well as economic and trade agreements between Iraq and Jordan.

In 2014, the Islamic State terror group killed thousands of Yazidis and forced abducted women to become wives or slaves of IS fighters in a campaign that was labeled genocide by the United Nations.

In November, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a report saying that more than 200 mass graves containing the remains of thousands of people had been discovered in Iraq in previously IS-controlled territories.

According to the OHCHR, the graves may potentially contain "critical forensic material" that could be used to identify victims and shed light on the scale of crimes committed by the jihadists.

Iraq has long been suffering from activities of various terrorist groups. In 2014, vast territories of the middle Eastern state were occupied by IS. The Iraqi army has successfully fought back against IS over the past year. In December, then Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi declared an end to the country's fight against the Islamic State as Iraqi troops re-established complete control over the country's Syrian border.