A mass grave containing around 100 bodies believed to date from the era of the Soviet-backed government in Afghanistan has been discovered in the eastern province of Khost, local Taliban officials said Monday.
The mass grave was unearthed on Saturday during the construction of a small dam in the Sarbani area of central Khost, Mayor Bismillah Bilal said.
“According to initial information, these people were buried here after being killed in 1358”
of the Afghan calendar, corresponding to April 1979 to March 1980, he told AFP.
“At least 100 bodies were discovered
,” Bilal added, stressing that some of the remains wore women's clothing and that they were all civilians.
Martyrs
Local residents said the remains belonged to victims of the violence that followed the Soviet-backed communist coup in Afghanistan in 1978.
“In 1358, these people were brought here in a merciless and barbaric manner by the cruel communist authorities, without trial
,” said Salam Sharifi, whose father disappeared under the communist government and whose remains were never found.
“They were martyred and we are their descendants.
“It’s a cruelty that history will never forget
,” Sharifi added to AFP.
A committee was appointed to move the remains, with residents helping municipal workers remove the bodies from the site, piling the bones in bags around the mass grave excavated Monday.
“No one knows who these martyrs are
,” said Mandair Mangal, a resident.
“They have all been buried and we are removing the bones and sorting them
. ”
After decades of conflict – including the 1979 Soviet invasion, the subsequent civil war and the US-led occupation – numerous mass graves have been discovered across Afghanistan.
In 2009, another mass grave of victims from the Soviet-backed government era was discovered, containing at least 20 bodies.
Most recently, in September 2022, another mass grave containing the remains of 12 people was unearthed in Spin Boldak, a site of fierce fighting between former Afghan government forces and Taliban fighters during their two-decade insurgency before they take power in 2021.