Iraq has exhumed the remains of some 470 people believed to have been summarily executed by Islamic State militants near the city of Tikrit last June, the government said on Thursday.
"We have exhumed the bodies of 470 martyrs from four major mass graves in Tikrit," health Minister Adila Hammoud told a press conference in Baghdad.
Up to 1,700 people, mainly young Shia soldiers, are estimated to have died in one of the worst atrocities committed in Iraq in recent times.
Most of the bodies are believed to be those of Iraqi Shia military cadets, who IS claimed to have abducted and killed in a massacre at Camp Speicher, a fortified Iraqi base near Tikrit, 140 kilometres northwest of Baghdad.
Some Sunni tribesmen are believed to have taken part in the massacre, during which soldiers were shown being lined up and shot at various locations in photos and videos released by IS at the time.
Some of the soldiers' bodies were pushed into the River Tigris, while others were buried in mass graves that were unearthed after government forces recaptured the city from IS in early April.
The first list of the names of those identified is expected to be released next week.
