Mass Grave Discovered in Rural Homs Containing Remains of Women and Children

The Civil Defense Directorate of Syria’s Transitional Government announced the discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of five individuals in the village of Abel, located in the southern countryside of Homs, in coordination with the National Authority for the Missing Persons.

In a statement, the Civil Defense said its teams responded to a report indicating the presence of human remains inside the village, where they recovered the bodies of a child, a woman, and three men, according to preliminary findings, noting that all the victims remain unidentified.

The statement added that specialized teams collected evidence and belongings found at the site in accordance with recognized protocols for documentation and exhumation before handing them over to the relevant authorities to complete the legal and forensic procedures.

The Civil Defense clarified that the grave was located inside a sewage pit at the entrance of one of the farms, with the bodies partially exposed and moved, and no personal items or identification documents were found at the site.

The directorate urged local residents not to approach suspected mass grave sites in order to preserve forensic evidence, stressing the importance of immediately notifying local centers upon the discovery of such cases.

Earlier this month, on October 4, the Internal Security Directorate in Homs announced the discovery of another mass grave in the al-Mukharram area of eastern Homs countryside, containing three bodies, including children, found fully clothed.

For his part, Mohammad Reda Jalkhi, head of the National Authority for the Missing Persons in Syria, stated earlier that the authorities have documented more than 63 mass graves across the country so far.