By Somalilandtimes network

Hargeysa, Somaliland, February 18, 2006 – A new mass grave containing at least the remains of 7 people was discovered in a suburb area located to the north of the Somaliland capital Hargeysa.

A Somaliland Times reporter who visited the site of the mass grave could only identify remains of 7 bodies tied together by ropes.

Residents near the site indicated that the victims could have been killed by Siyad Barre’s government soldiers following the SNM’s eviction from the city in August 1988.

According to Ibrahim Ali Farah, a local resident, Barre’s soldiers rounded up all the civilians who remained in the area after the SNM’s retreat only to get them massacred.

A woman called Asha Ali said that it was a common knowledge among residents that the whole area was fested with mass graves.

Large mass graves containing hundreds of bodies were discovered in south western Hargeysa between 1997 and 2005 following heavy rain floods.

UN forensic experts identified the remains as victims of mass murder operations dating back to Siyad Barre’s era.

Source: Somaliland Times