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80 bodies found in mass grave in Sri Lanka

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The digging for skeletal remains in a mass grave discovered in the former war zone of Sri Lanka has yielded at least 80 human remains, said the police.

Published: Fri 28 Feb 2014, 9:25 PM

Updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 12:44 AM

  • By
  • Qadijah Irshad

Construction workers digging to lay down water supply pipes stumbled upon the grave site near a famous Hindu temple in Thirukatheeswaram.

The mass grave found in Mannar was under the control of the Tamil Tiger terrorists for nearly 25 years until Sri Lankan army took control of the area 2008, during the country’s three decade war that ended in 2009.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch told local media that the Tamil Tigers, who were responsible for thousands of deaths of soldiers and civilians in during 28 years of war, could be responsible for the mass grave site.

So far there has been no clear determination of the identity and age of the victims, or who killers were of the full and partial skeletal remains.

A government medical official overseeing the excavation, Dr Dhananjaya Waidyarathna said the bodies had been buried in layers. Officials also said that the top layer of the skeletal remains have been shattered by heavy earth-moving machinery used in the road construction work.

The lack clothes, watches, jewellery or any other ornaments on the bodies is ‘worrisome’ said officials at the gravesite.

The Tamil Tigers were infamous for executions of military personnel as well as civilians. During their reign of the Northern part of the country, the terrorist group ran a de facto government complete with land, sea and air forces as well as sprawling prisons.

The Mannar gravesite is the first discovery of a mass grave in the former conflict zone since the war ended. Thousands of people still remain missing since the government troops defeated the Tamil Tigers after a final bloody battle.

news@khaleejtimes.com



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