BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AA) – A mass grave containing the remains of over 100 bodies has been found in southern Burundi, local administrator said Thursday.
The mass grave is located in the commune of Mabanda in Makamba province, 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the capital Bujumbura, the administrator of this commune, Laetitia Niyonkuru, told Anadolu Agency.
“It was discovered by workers who were digging gutters on a under construction road near the communal office,” she said, adding that it was too difficult to identify the bodies and perpetrators of the massacre.
Gad Niyonkuru, governor of Makamba province, also confirmed it without giving further details.
He said that they are waiting for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Burundi to send a delegation of experts to the scene to investigate the matter.
The municipal authorities have temporarily suspended the construction of the road, he added.
The mass grave contains nearly a hundred bodies and machetes, according to eyewitnesses.
Makamba province has often been the scene of violent clashes between Hutus and Tutsis, the two main ethnic groups in Burundi.
Witnesses believe that the mass grave dates back to 1972 when a major conflict took place between the two groups.
The violence had led to the deaths of more than 200,000 people over a period of three months, mainly members of the Hutu majority.
The violence reached another peak in October 1993 following the assassination of Melchior Ndadaye, the first democratically elected Hutu president. More than 300,000 people were killed in the clashes.
During the first 50 years of Burundi’s independence, over 500,000 Hutus and 100,000 Tutsi were killed in mass atrocities, according to the Combat Genocide Association.
In neighboring Rwanda, more than 800,000 people were killed in genocide against the Tutsi population by Hutu extremists in 1994.
