Mass Graves Reveal Atrocities against Shias in Afghanistan’s Remote Village
According to Shafaqana, the officials said they have found the bodies of 40 Shias in several mass graves in Mirzawalang village in a remote area of Afghanistan’s northern province of Sar-e Pul.
Zabihullah Amini, a local government spokesman, said 42 bodies have been found.
He said that among them there were three children and some of them had been beheaded.
Afghan forces on Monday recaptured the village where members of the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) and Taliban terrorist groups massacred dozens of civilians earlier this month.
About 50 villagers, including women and children, were either shot or beheaded by the Takfiri terrorists on August 5.
Daesh on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the killings, but officials said it was "a joint operation by Daesh and Taliban fighters”.
Survivors fleeing the violence described the horror, detailing how fighters went from house to house shooting villagers.
"Me, my brother Ghulam and my sister-in-law left our home to escape the horror that was happening in the village,” Sakhi, a resident of Mirzawalang, told Al Jazeera, adding: "When we reached the highway, the militants blocking it asked us to get out of the car and started hitting us.”
"They beheaded my brother and the others in the car, who were with us trying to escape.
"I grabbed my sister-in-law's hand and ran as fast as I could. They started firing, but we managed to escape,” Sakhi said, describing how he also witnessed women and children being beheaded.
"I can’t cope with the horror and pain...we've been through hell.”
Over the past year, Daesh has carried out a number of deadly attacks on civilians, particularly the Shia community in Afghanistan.
This month two suicide bombers killed more than 33 worshippers at a mosque in Afghanistan's western city of Herat, in an attack claimed by the Takfiri group.
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