The bodies of almost 600 victims from one of the worst atrocities ever committed by the Isis militant group have been exhumed from sites in northern Iraq, officials have said.

Speaking at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq’s human rights minister Mohammed al-Bayati gave the latest update on a body count that is expected to continue to rise – possibly even double.

The bodies are all those of young air cadets, massacred after the fall of the northern city of Tikrit to Isis almost exactly one year ago.

Tikrit, famous for being the home town of Saddam Hussein, fell to the so-called “Islamic State” on 12 June 2014, two days after the larger city of Mosul, now the group’s biggest stronghold in Iraq.

According to reports, images and videos posted online by Isis at the time, the group also captured the Speicher military base near Tikrit, and with it around 4,000 unarmed air force recruits.

Between 1,000 and 1,700 mostly Shia recruits were executed and buried in mass graves in several locations.

Members from the Iraqi forensic team search to extract the remains of the bodies (Reuters)

Remnants of a body belonging to Shia soldiers from Camp Speicher (Reuters)

Tikrit was recaptured by government forces in April, the start of a mammoth task for the state’s forensic scientists to identify those massacred.

“The remains of 597 Speicher martyrs have been exhumed,” Mohammed al-Bayati told journalists in Baghdad.

In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Show all 16 1 /16 In pictures: Fight for Tikrit In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Shiite fighters pose in front of a mural depicting the emblem of the Islamic State group outside one of the presidential palaces in Tikrit, on April 1, 2015 Getty Images In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi tours the city of Tikrit after it was retaken by the security forces in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 1 2015 AP In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit An Iraqi flag waves over the Tigris River om April 1 2015 AP In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Iraqi security forces playing football in Tikrit after their country declared a 'magnificent victory' over the Islamic State group in the city on April 1 2015 Reuters In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit A member of the security forces holds Iraq’s national flag in front of a painted Isis emblem Getty Images In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Iraqi security forces arrest a member of the Islamic State in Tikrit on April 1, 2015 Reuters In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit A member from the Iraqi security forces beats an Isis insurgent, who was captured in Tikrit Reuters In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilisation units celebrate in front of the the provincial council building inside the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit on March 31, 2015 Getty Images In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Iraqi soldiers stand on a damaged tank during fighting against IS militants near Tikrit Corbis In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Fighters of Iraqi Shiite militias who volunteered to support the Iraqi forces make their way towards Daquq town near Tikrit Corbis In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Iraqi security forces and Shia fighters chant slogans as they gather at Udhaim dam, north of Baghdad, where they have been massing in preparation for an attack on Isis along the Tigris River Reuters In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Pro-government volunteer Shia fighters in Awaynat near Tikrit AFP/Getty In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Iraqi government forces and allied militias firing weaponry from a position in the northern part of Diyala AFP In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit A volunteer in the Iraqi Shiite Badr Army militia taking up position outside Tikrit Corbis In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Volunteers of the Iraqi Shiite Badr Army militia patrol an area at eastern Tikrit city Corbis In pictures: Fight for Tikrit Fight for Tikrit Members of the Iraqi security forces coming from the city of Samarra drive towards al-Dawr south of Tikrit to launch an assault against the Islamic State AFP/Getty

In a previous update, health minister Adila Hammoud described the work to exhume the Speicher victims as “complicated”.