At Least 100,000 Bodies in Syrian Mass Grave, US Advocacy Group Head Says

The site of a mass grave from the rule of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, according to residents, after the ousting of al-Assad, in Najha, Syria, on Dec. 17, 2024. Ammar Awad/Reuters

WASHINGTON—The head of a U.S.-based Syrian advocacy organization on Monday said that a mass grave outside of Damascus contained the bodies of at least 100,000 people killed by the former government of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Mouaz Moustafa, speaking to Reuters in a telephone interview from Damascus, said the site at al Qutayfah, 25 miles north of the Syrian capital, was one of five mass graves that he had identified over the years.