Taliban blame mass grave found in Kandahar to abuses under former Afghanistan government

Sep. 27 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Taliban have claimed that the mass grave recently found in Kandahar province (south) would contain the bodies of people killed in “atrocities” committed by a former provincial police chief who held the post before the insurgents came to power.

Taliban spokesman and Afghan Deputy Information Minister Zabihulá Muyahid has pointed out that the grave “is a remnant of General Raziq’s atrocities”, referring to Raziq Achakzai, who died in 2018 in an attack.

Likewise, the deputy spokesman for the authorities established by the Taliban, Bilal Karimi, has indicated that the bodies were buried eight years ago and has stressed that there is an ongoing investigation, according to the Afghan television network Tolo TV.

During the last hours, a video has been published in which relatives of the victims can be seen exhuming 16 bodies from the grave, located in the town of Spin Boldak, on the border with Pakistan.

“The residents of Spin Boldak discovered this pit while digging a well. The history of the pit goes back eight years, when the old government was in power,” Karimi said, amid calls to clarify what happened.

For his part, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has affirmed that “it is important that these remains are not altered or damaged until there are forensic examinations, while maintaining sensitivity towards the families’ needs.