The bodies of hundreds of Afghan civilians killed during communist rule have been uncovered in a mass grave in north-eastern Afghanistan, officials and witnesses said on Thursday. The grave is in desert just outside the town of Faizabad, provincial capital of Badakhshan province, bordering China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
Bone fragments were found when residents began building new houses in the area recently. "So far, we have dug out some 400 bodies," Sibghatullah Khaksari, the head of a local government agency that searches for and exhumes the victims of decades of conflict, told Reuters at the site, adding authorities feared there could be more bodies.
Some of the victims have been identified by relatives. Among the victims discovered so far, were some women, but they were mostly men, including some elderly. Some were handcuffed and shackled.
Several dozen were tied up in a chain, some had bullet holes in their skull. Broken spectacles, a few artificial golden teeth, pens and watches were also found among the remains. Authorities plan to rebury the remains at the site and erect a monument once the excavation is complete.
The victims were among the first killed by officials of the pro-communist government that came to power in 1978, a year before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Almost 2 million Afghans died during the 10-year Soviet occupation and subsequent factional fighting among the Islamic groups that drove the Red Army out. Tens of thousands were killed or buried alive for resisting or staging uprisings against the occupation across the country.