Saad Al-Abdali, a member of the Iraqi Council of Ministers' board, told Assabah that the opening of the tomb required "an international effort", adding that the hole was "the largest and bloodiest".
"The corpses were thrown vertically and cumulatively, which meant the body remains and bones mixed together, making it difficult to identify the victims and return them to their families," Al-Abdali said, the Middle East Monitor reported.
The Iraqi official pointed out that a team specializing in mass graves had begun planning for the dig.
Al-Khasfa is located in the southwest of the Iraqi northern city of Mosul in an abandoned desert area. It was said to have been found after a meteorite fell to the ground thousands of years ago.