Mass grave found in Afghanistan

A mass grave discovered in eastern Afghanistan is thought to contain the bodies of more than 500 soldiers of the communist regime that was toppled in 1992, officials said Thursday.
"A mass grave has been found in Paktika. We have sent a delegation to investigate," interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said, without giving details.
Another official in the same ministry told AFP the grave was believed to contain the bodies of soldiers who were killed after surrendering to mujahedin fighters who toppled the communist government of President Najibullah.
"According to my information, there are some 530 bodies in the grave," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We believe that they were the defeated soldiers of Najibullah," he said.
If proven true, it would be the first mass grave found in Afghanistan containing communist soldiers. Other graves have been found with the bodies of thousands of anti-communist mujahedin holy warriors.
In 2002, months after US forces and several Afghan militia groups toppled the hard-line Taleban regime, the bodies of thousands of Taleban fighters were found in a grave in northern Afghanistan.
Human rights groups blamed the killing on Abdul Rashid Dostam, one of Afghanistan's most feared warlords, who is now the army chief of staff in President Hamid Karzai's government.