Balochistan: Three more bodies found from a mass grave in Khuzdar

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Three more bodies were found in a mass grave in Tootak area of Khuzdar, Balochistan on Sunday.

Tootak is the same area where on Jan, 24, 2014 at least 13 bodies had been recovered and the recovery of three more corpses makes the total official number of bodies 16.

Balochistan Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary, Asad Gilani, confirmed the recovery of three more bodies; he told BBC Urdu that a local of the area informed Deputy Commissioner Khuzdar about the presence of bodies.

He said the local administration inspected the area and excavated the three bodies.

According to Levies sources two bodies were found from one grave whereas the third was found from some distance in another place. The bodies have been shifted to district headquarters hospital in Khuzdar. Hospital sources said the bodies were disfigured beyond recognition and six months old. Hospital sources also said two bodies were merely bones whereas the third still had some flesh on it. The Home Secretary said that steps will be taken for the DNA test of these bodies to ascertain their identity.

It is pertinent to remember that three mass graves were found in the same location of Tootak area inKhuzdar district of Balochistan on 24 January. The regional administration had confirmed the discovery of 13 bodies from those graves.

After the discovery of mass graves human rights organizations and Baloch nationalist parties and organizations had protested against this incident. Baloch nationalist parties had said at least 169 bodies were found from three mass graves. The Pakistan army had later sealed the area and took control of the bodies. The Balochistan government constituted a judicial inquiry Tribunal comprising a Balochistan High Court judge to investigate the discovery of mass graves in Tootak.

The Tribunal allowed the burial of 11 disfigured and unidentified bodies that were found from Khuzadr on 24 January, 2014. The local administration of Khuzdar buried the bodies in a mass grave. Identity of three of the bodies was ascertained and they were handed over to their relatives. All three men were residents of earthquake hit district of Awaran Balochistan. Balochistan High Court judge Justice Mohammad Noor Miskanzai recorded the statement of eye-witnesses of Tootak mass graves before judicial Tribunal. The investigation of the previous mass graves is still continued yet another mass grave has been found in the same area.

Voice for Baloch Missing Persons and Baloch pro-freedom Baloch parties and leaders had asked for an international inquiry and urged the UN to send a team of medical experts to investigate the incident and ascertain the identity of those bodies found in Tootak mass graves.

Baloch pro-freedom leader Hyrbyair Marri in a statement expressed his concerned about the unearthing of mass graves in Balochistan on 24 January.

He had said: “We suspect that the government is trying to remove the evidence from the site because the other day when locals were digging the mass graves, the Pakistani security forces opened fire on them and took control of the entire region. They are not allowing anyone including the media to go in that area which illustrates that Pakistan army is busy in removing evidences.”