Independence war mass graves unearthed in Zimbabwe

Independence war mass graves unearthed in Zimbabwe

MASS graves unearthed in Zimbabwe

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By Agencies

MASS graves containing the remains of people believed to have been killed during Zimbabwe's 1970s independence war have been discovered in northern Zimbabwe, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

The state-run Herald quoted a senior police officer as saying that relatives "possessed" by the spirits of their dead kin had helped to discover the 19 mass graves in the Mount Darwin area, in the remote north-east of the country.

The paper gave conflicting figures on the number of people buried in the graves. It quoted a senior police officer as saying that nearly 5 000 "remains" had been exhumed, while more than 1 900 bodies were reported to have been discovered.

"With the help of the people possessed by the spirits of the fallen heroes, we have identified nearly 5 000 human remains, which include those of our liberation heroes," Senior Assistant Commissioner Winston Changara was quoted as saying.

The report said more than 1 900 bodies had been found at different sites scattered throughout Mount Darwin, which was the focus of fierce fighting during the war.

The paper said the victims were likely to have been villagers and supporters of black nationalists who were killed more than 24 years ago by special units of the former white minority government.

The bodies were then dumped down mine shafts, or in mass graves, the paper said.

Black nationalist fighters, who included the country's current president Robert Mugabe, waged a bitter guerrilla war against the former white minority regime of Prime Minister Ian Smith, leading to the country's independence in 1980.

The latest findings come after small-scale miners discovered bodies down a disused mine shaft in the same area in September.
Belief in ancestral spirits is prevalent among some traditional Zimbabwean communities.

The Herald reported that villagers in the area have called on the government to hold traditional cleansing ceremonies and give the bodies a decent burial.
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