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| Afghanistan |
| Mass Grave Found in Balkh's Shortepa District |
| 2015-12-02 |
| Deminers on Sunday found human remains buried in a mass grave in Taza Umid village of Shortepa district in northern Balkh province, officials confirmed. According to them, the remains of about 13 people were found – ten of whom had turbans on when buried. "This is the area where we work. We were on our way to Mazar-e-Sharif when a resident informed us about the existence of a mass grave," Abdul Hadi, a deminer said on Sunday. However, it is unclear how the deceased died or what the circumstances were. But officials said early indications point towards them having been killed by the Taliban. Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has expressed deep concerns over the discovery of the mass grave and called on government to ensure an investigation into the matter is carried out and those responsible are brought to justice. "Elements who are involved in such crimes must be removed from the government structure. A documentary needs to be prepared about the events. We have general information about such things, but we face a lack of information which is authentic," head of AIHRC site office in Balkh, Taqi Wahidi said. Meanwhile, the deputy head of Balkh provincial council has said that the discovery of the mass grave shows the level of violence the country has been subjected to over the past thirty years. He called on government to ensure those responsible pay for their crimes. "Unforgivable crimes have been committed over the past three decades and the mass grave proves this fact. These crimes are unpardonable," Shujauddin Shuja, deputy head of Balkh provincial council said. "We expect government to take effective steps in this respect to detect the perpetrators involved in such crimes," he said. Three decades of violence and war has dominated the country and devastated Afghanistan's economy. It has also taken its toll on the infrastructure and claimed the lives of thousands of people. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 According to them, the remains of about 13 people were found – ten of whom had turbans on when buried. "bury me with my |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-12-02 08:41 |