Story highlights 1,300-1,500 Yazidis found in mass graves since 2015, official says

Authorities expect to uncover more bodies in ISIS-held territory

Irbil, Iraq (CNN) The bodies of between 1,300 and 1,500 members of the Yazidi minority have been discovered near the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar since it was retaken from ISIS in 2015, a Kurdish official told CNN Tuesday.

It's the first time an official has estimated the total number of Yazidis found in grave sites littered around Sinjar since Iraqi forces pushed the terror group out more than two years ago.

Thirty-five mass graves along with 100 individual graves have been unearthed, according to Hussein Hassoun, the spokesman of the Higher Committee to Introduce Yazidi Kurds.

An Iraqi man inspects a mass grave near Sinjar in February 2015.

"The mass graves are about 5 to 10 kilometers apart," Hassoun told CNN. Between 300 and 500 bodies were found in the past few months.

A new mass grave was recently found in the Hardan area of Sinjar, the town's mayor told Rudaw news agency.

Read More