Jessica Durando

USA TODAY

A mass grave containing about 100 decapitated bodies has been found south of Mosul, Iraq's military said in a statement Monday.

The mass grave was discovered by Iraqi forces in the School of Agriculture on the outskirts of Hammam al-Alil, a town recaptured from the Islamic State on Monday, Iraq's Joint Military Command said, according to CNN.

"Gangs of ISIS militants continue to commit crimes against our people," the statement said, CNN reported.

A forensics team from Baghdad will investigate the grave site Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the Joint Military Command, said the state of the remains made it hard to tell by their clothes if they were soldiers or civilians.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurdish fighters exchanged heavy fire with militants Monday as they entered a town held by the Islamic State east of Mosul, the AP reported. The offensive to reclaim Bashiqa is part of a larger push to drive the Islamic State out of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. Combat began at dawn with Kurdish heavy artillery, rockets and mortar rounds slamming into Islamic State positions, according to the AP.

“We have the coordinates of their bases and tunnels, and we are targeting them from here in order to weaken them so that our forces can reach their targets more easily,” said Iraqi Kurdish commander Brig. Gen. Iskander Khalil Gardi.

Quick guide to understanding the battle for Mosul