
Two mass graves containing dozens of bodies of civilians and Syrian troops killed by ISIS terrorists have been found in the west of Raqa province, state news agency SANA reported Friday.

The bodies were discovered based on information provided by residents near Wawi in the west of the province, which borders Turkey. It said they had been executed.

Recovery operations were expected to last several days 'due to the huge area of the two mass graves', SANA quoted a source from the Syrian civil defence as saying.

Teams of Syrian soldiers have been digging at the site of two mass graves used by ISIS to dump its murder victims

Dozens of corpses have already been recovered at the two mass graves which have been uncovered outside Raqqa

Soldiers searched for bodies using shovels in order reduce the amount of damage caused to the bodies dumped by ISIS

It was not immediately clear when they had been killed, other than while ISIS controlled the northerly province, SANA said.

ISIS, which proclaimed a 'caliphate' over swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, has now lost almost all the land it once controlled.

It has been held responsible for multiple atrocities during its reign of terror, including mass executions and decapitations.

In December 2014, the bodies of 230 people executed by Islamic State were found in a mass grave in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

Another 200 civilians, including women and children, were killed by the group in June 2015 in the city of Kobane.

Locals tipped off Syrian authorities about the locations of the two mass graves after they were liberated from ISIS

Syrian authorities believe it will take several days before both of the locations have been cleared of all bodies

The Syrian troops used heavy earth moving equipment to take the top section of earth away from the mass grave

Once a body has been located, it is carefully excavated in an effort to increase the chance of identifying the remains