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CNN Sunday Morning

U.N. Officials Investigate Mass Grave site

Aired April 07, 2002 - 11:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Afghanistan, U.N. officials are investigating a disturbing discovery northwest of Kabul. Mass graves have been found, one with about 35 bodies. Meanwhile in Kabul, international security forces are investigating a rocket attack on troops there. Our Walt Rodgers, joins us live from Kabul with more on those stories. Hi there, Walt.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. Whoever fired that rocket at the international security forces base was a lousy marksman. They were off by a country mile.

Now ISAF forces say that they used a Chinese rocket of about .107 millimeters, that long, that much in diameter, but this is a rocket which is free fired, can not be guided once it's released, and the rocket had way too high a trajectory.

It over flew the international security forces base on the eastern outskirts of Kabul, landed in a field, oh several hundred meters well beyond where any ISAF forces were based. That is the nearest barracks where there are Greek and Italian army forces. They were never in danger. No one was injured in this attack at all, and I need to stress there were no U.S. forces on that base.

Still, this is another evidence that in Afghanistan, security is always somewhere beyond the horizon. This is a country which is -- where violence and insecurity are endemic, violence particularly from the Bamiyan Province northwest of Kabul comes word today that there may indeed have been at least one grave found with 35 or 36 bodies in it.

The United Nations officials say there are reports of at least three such graves, total number of people killed we don't know, but these were people who would have been killed during the last days of the Taliban's presence here. These were Shia Muslims that the Taliban did not like.

Earlier I talked with the United Nations spokesman here in Kabul, Manuel DeSilva, and asked him about the credibility of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANUEL DE ALEMEIDA E SILVA, U.N. SPOKESMAN: We do think it's credible. The calls came first late on Friday to the (inaudible) commission here. Yesterday, Saturday, throughout the day we had radio and phone contact with the people in the local leadership and the local authorities in Bamiyan and we sent a team this morning. When they come back later tonight, we'll find out the details.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: Now it's believed, of course, that the people who were in those graves fell into hard times with the Taliban. The Hazaras, which occupy the Bamiyan Province and the Shia Muslims and the Taliban hated the Shias. The Taliban are Sunni Muslims. There was always inter-Muslim strife between them and it's believed that if, indeed, these reports of substantial numbers of people were killed, this was the work of the Taliban during its final days in power here in Afghanistan. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you very much, Walt Rodgers from Kabul this morning.

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