Iraqi forensic experts have begun the exhumation of the mass graves of at least 1,700 captured Iraqi soldiers killed by the Islamic State (IS) in the city of Tikrit.
The sites are located near the former U.S. Army base, Camp Speicher, reported the BBC.
The exhumations have begun just days after Tikrit was liberated from IS control following a month-long siege.
DNA testing will be used to identify the bodies. Many families never received confirmation of their relatives' deaths.
The executions were carried out by the terror group in June last year and mostly Shia soldiers were among those killed.
Survivors said that the jihadists asked the victims to identify those who were Shia before killing them.