'Three skeletons found' in war shipwreck

The skeletons of three sailors who were aboard an Iraqi commercial vessel sunk by Iran's air force in 1988 were found during the dredging of a southern waterway, an official said on Sunday.

"While the Khor Zubair waterway was being dredged by a Turkish company working with the Iraqi ports company, an Iraqi-owned shipping vessel known as the Ramadi was found," said the Basra ports official, declining to be named.

He added that the ship had been sunk by the Iranian air force in 1988, towards the end of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war.

"The discovery was made in August and in the interior of the ship, three skeletons were found," the official said, adding they had since been sent for identification.

The Iran-Iraq war left around one million people dead and thousands missing on both sides.

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