At noon on 12 June 2014, Ahmed Kamel Jabbar’s family was waiting for his return home. The young man from Al-Muthanna Governorate had told his family over the phone that he was on his way back after the security situation in Salah al-Din had deteriorated. His mother did not know that this would be their final conversation.
His sister, Fatima Kamel, recalls the final hours before his disappearance. She says that Ahmed had only recently joined the military and was trying to build a future for himself through any means that could secure him a decent life. On the night before the tragedy, he told the family that the camp in Tikrit had come under attack and that they had been transferred to Camp Speicher.
Fatima says Ahmed remained in contact with their father until the early hours of the morning, before communication was briefly interrupted. The following morning, he called again, reassuring them that he would soon return home and that they were preparing to leave.
She adds that Ahmed later told them that armed men at a civilian checkpoint had informed the soldiers that they would arrange transportation back to their home regions. The soldiers were then loaded onto large vehicles, a scene that would later appear in videos documenting the massacre.
At around two o’clock in the afternoon, while the family was waiting for him at the lunch table, Ahmed called his father and asked to speak to his mother. She immediately sensed that something was wrong. When she got on the phone, she heard him crying as he said: “I’m going away… You won’t see me again.”
After the incident, the family continued calling Ahmed’s phone for several days. Eventually, someone answered, claiming to be a member of ISIS and threatening to kill Ahmed if they continued contacting the number.
Fatima says that her brother, who was born in 1991, remains missing to this day, despite having been officially recognised as one of the victims of the Camp Speicher massacre. She explains that the family provided DNA samples in the hope of identifying his remains, but years of waiting have yet to provide any definitive answers about his fate.
She notes that many of the bodies recovered from mass graves were identified through DNA testing, while other families, including her own, are still waiting for a phone call that might finally bring news of their loved ones, more than a decade after the crime was committed.
One of the Largest Massacres in Iraq’s History
On 12 June 2014, ISIS carried out the Camp Speicher massacre, killing between 1,095 and 1,700 military cadets, according to varying estimates. The massacre took place just two days after the group seized the city of Mosul and one day after the fall of Tikrit.
Thousands of military cadets, either unarmed or only lightly armed, were stationed inside Camp Speicher and its surrounding areas when security conditions in the province collapsed. Multiple accounts indicate that ISIS militants separated the victims along sectarian lines before carrying out mass executions.
To this day, the massacre remains one of the deadliest terrorist crimes in Iraq’s modern history.
According to official figures, ISIS captured between 2,000 and 2,200 members of the 18th Division, which was responsible for protecting oil facilities and pipelines in the region, after taking control of Tikrit. Large numbers of the captives were transported to the city’s presidential palaces, where they were subjected to mass executions, while others were killed at different locations. Reports also indicated that some victims were buried alive.
ISIS filmed large portions of the crime and later released video footage documenting the transportation of captives and the mass executions.
At the same time, a number of soldiers and military cadets managed to survive through various means, most notably by reaching the town of Al-Alam, east of Tikrit, which remained outside ISIS control at the time. Local tribes, particularly members of the Al-Jubour tribe, helped them by providing shelter, identification documents, and safe passage to more secure areas.
Survivors have also recounted how soldiers were deceived into believing that the routes leading to their home provinces were safe, a tactic that resulted in large numbers of them falling into ISIS custody.
Ongoing Debate Over Responsibility
Since it occurred, the Camp Speicher massacre has sparked widespread debate over the military and security failures that preceded the tragedy.
Lieutenant General Ali Al-Furaiji, who was the commander of operations in Salah al-Din at the time, denied issuing any order to withdraw from Camp Speicher. He maintained that what happened resulted from chaos among soldiers and gate guards, which led to large numbers of troops leaving the base.
Al-Furaiji said he remained inside the base with a group of officers and soldiers to continue fighting, calling for the testimonies of all military personnel who were present to be heard before passing judgment on what occurred.
Former Defence Minister Jumaa Inad, who was serving as a field officer in the area at the time, says the disorder began after news spread of the fall of Mosul and then Tikrit. According to him, the soldiers’ morale deteriorated sharply as rumours circulated about the collapse of military units.
He explains that the decision to relocate to Camp Speicher was made because it was the most fortified and defensible position in the area, equipped with trenches, earthworks, watchtowers, and multiple defensive systems.
Inad argues that the central problem was not the base’s defensive capabilities, but rather the determination of large numbers of soldiers to leave and return to their families, despite repeated attempts by commanders to persuade them to stay.
He says that many of those who left discarded their weapons, removed their military uniforms, and changed into civilian clothing in the hope of reaching their home regions without attracting attention.
According to his account, the forces assigned to protect the base’s gates, including units from the Counter-Terrorism Service, attempted to stop them from leaving and even fired warning shots into the air to force them back, but without success.
Inad also maintains that the base remained secure throughout the fighting and that ISIS was unable to storm it or engage directly with the forces inside because of its strong fortifications.
He rejects efforts to hold local tribes collectively responsible for the massacre, arguing that ISIS bears primary responsibility for the crime. He notes that some tribes included individuals who resisted the group, while others joined its ranks.
Inad further believes that the official investigations have fallen short of what was required, pointing to unresolved questions that remain regarding the number of victims and missing persons, as well as the locations of their burial sites.
A Survivor’s Testimony from Among the Bodies
Ali Al-Sagri, one of the survivors of the massacre, recalls the hours leading up to the tragedy. He says he never heard any military commander issue an order to withdraw from the base. On the contrary, commanders repeatedly urged soldiers to remain inside Camp Speicher, describing it as a fortified position capable of withstanding attack.
Al-Sagri explains that the arrival of Salah al-Din Operations Command forces, with their weapons and equipment, strengthened the soldiers’ sense of security. At the same time, however, discussions about leaving the base and returning home began to spread among the troops.
He says that individuals he describes as “infiltrators” played a significant role in encouraging soldiers to take that course of action, even urging them to discard their weapons and change into civilian clothes to avoid attracting attention.
According to his account, soldiers began discarding their weapons and removing their military uniforms as they left. When they reached the main gate, which was under the control of the Counter-Terrorism Service, the forces stationed there attempted to stop them and send them back inside the base.
Al-Sagri says some soldiers did return, but the infiltrators persuaded them to come back again and confront the Counter-Terrorism personnel, telling them: “They’re soldiers like us. They won’t kill us.”
He recalls that Counter-Terrorism forces fired warning shots into the air in an effort to intimidate those leaving and prevent them from departing, but the soldiers ultimately managed to pass through the gate. He remembers one officer warning them: “They will kill all of you, and you will bring shame upon us.”
After leaving the base, the soldiers encountered a group of civilians who directed them along different routes out of the area. Al-Sagri says the only route that later proved safe was the road leading to the town of Al-Alam, thanks to assistance from local residents to fleeing soldiers.
He believes the events were not spontaneous but rather the result of prior planning carried out by individuals who had infiltrated the ranks and spent several days influencing the soldiers.
According to Al-Sagri, these individuals repeatedly encouraged troops to get rid of their weapons, even though, in his view, the possession of just a few rifles could have altered the course of events.
While acknowledging that some residents of the area supported ISIS, he rejects holding an entire city responsible for what happened. He stresses that many locals risked their lives to save soldiers, and that some paid for those efforts with their own lives.
Recalling the executions, Al-Sagri says the soldiers were taken to a ravine, where they came under heavy and indiscriminate gunfire. He fell into the ravine alongside dozens of victims and remained there until nightfall while ISIS fighters searched the area for survivors.
After hours in hiding, he managed to move through the trees toward the Tigris River, where he encountered another survivor named Abbas. The two continued their escape together, but Abbas, who had sustained injuries while trying to survive, eventually became unable to continue.
Al-Sagri says his companion urged him to carry on alone and inform his family of what had happened, insisting that he would not be able to reach safety himself. After hesitating, Al-Sagri was forced to continue the journey on his own.
He insists that he would not have survived without the help of local residents, who hid him and moved him between several homes despite the grave risks they faced. He recalls that one resident of Tikrit refused to hand him over to ISIS despite knowing the consequences and later helped transfer him to Al-Alam, where he remained with a local family for 16 days.
He concludes his testimony by speaking about the man who ultimately smuggled him out of the area. The man obtained an identity card for him under the name “Adnan Khaled Mohammed Al-Obaidi” and accompanied him through roughly 20 security checkpoints, pretending they were members of a displaced family travelling from Hawija to Kirkuk. The journey ended with Al-Sagri reaching safety after surviving one of the deadliest massacres in Iraq’s recent history.
The Identity of the Perpetrators
Alongside accounts that place direct responsibility for the massacre on ISIS, other narratives point to the involvement of local actors in carrying out the crime.
Moeen Al-Kadhimi, head of the Committee for the Commemoration of the Camp Speicher Massacre and a member of parliament representing the Fatah Alliance (Badr Organisation), says that more than 500 individuals took part in the killings and that Iraqi authorities have succeeded in arresting a number of them and referring them to the judiciary.
He notes that dozens of those convicted have received death sentences, some of which have already been carried out, while other cases remain under legal review.
Al-Kadhimi says the massacre continued over several days because of the large number of victims and that efforts to locate and excavate mass graves continued for years after the liberation of Tikrit.
He further argues that those responsible for luring the victims to the presidential palaces included individuals he describes as supporters of the former regime, as well as local residents who collaborated with ISIS.
Mass Graves
Following the recapture of Tikrit from ISIS, Iraqi authorities launched extensive efforts to locate the mass graves linked to the massacre.
MP Moeen Al-Kadhimi explains that search and excavation teams from the Mass Graves Affairs and Protection Directorate, part of the Martyrs Foundation, have recovered nearly 1,400 sets of remains over the past several years from 16 mass graves discovered within and around the presidential palaces.
According to Al-Kadhimi, the remains were transferred to the Forensic Medicine Department, where DNA testing was conducted and matched against samples provided by victims’ families. This process enabled authorities to identify approximately 1,200 victims and return their remains to their relatives.
He adds that around 600 people are still considered missing, suggesting that some may have been thrown into the Tigris River, while others may remain buried in locations that have yet to be discovered.
Al-Kadhimi stresses that all victims, regardless of whether their remains have been recovered, have been legally recognised as martyrs, and that their families have received the pensions and compensation provided under Iraqi law.
A Case That Remains Open
Sarmad Al-Badri, Director of the Media and Relations Department at Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights, told Daraj that the Camp Speicher massacre remains one of the most horrific crimes in modern Iraqi history.
He said that the commission continues to commemorate the massacre each year while following up on the cases of victims and missing persons and working to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.
Al-Badri noted that significant efforts have been undertaken by the Martyrs Foundation, the Forensic Medicine Department, security agencies, and civil society organisations to document the crime and collect evidence related to it. These efforts have also included cooperation with the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD).
He added that the mass graves file continues to face major technical and logistical challenges. Some sites have not yet been fully excavated, while some victims were buried in individual graves or had their remains carried elsewhere by floodwaters.
Al-Badri explained that DNA matching procedures are still ongoing and that the identities of some recovered remains have yet to be conclusively established because of the complexity of the testing process or the lack of reference samples.
He believes that financial compensation and the legal measures adopted by the state constitute an important aspect of reparations, but they are insufficient to address the deep psychological and social consequences left by the massacre.
According to Al-Badri, many victims’ families continue to suffer from the effects of trauma, while programmes providing psychological support and rehabilitation for mothers, fathers, spouses, and children who lost loved ones remain inadequate.
He also stressed that security and judicial efforts to pursue suspects inside and outside Iraq are ongoing. A number of those accused have been arrested over the past several years, while others remain at large, and efforts continue to secure their extradition and prosecution.
A Wound That Has Yet to Heal
More than twelve years after the massacre, Camp Speicher remains etched in the memory of Iraqis as one of the bloodiest chapters in the country’s modern history.
Despite the recovery of hundreds of remains and the issuance of thousands of official documents related to the victims, the case remains unresolved. Some families are still waiting for the results of DNA tests, while others have yet to receive the remains of their loved ones. Meanwhile, the search for additional mass graves continues in the hope of uncovering long-awaited answers.
To this day, many families, including that of Ahmed Kamel Jabbar, continue to live with the aftermath of the tragedy. Efforts to identify remains and complete victims’ files are still ongoing, in the hope that this painful humanitarian case, which remains deeply embedded in Iraq’s collective memory, can one day be brought to a close.
