Three massive graves containing dozens of bodies have been found in Mirza Olang valley in northern Sar-e-Pul province following a coordinated attack by militants in the area last week. 

TOLOnews reporter Samim Faramarz says that according to residents, the majority of those buried in these graves were civilians and some of them members of the public uprising forces but the bodies of three children, who were beheaded, were also recovered. 

42 bodies so far have been removed from these graves, Faramarz said.

Reza, a resident of Mirza Olang, who returned to his village, after ten days, in search of his father, said he has found a pair of shoes belonging to his father.

“These are my father’s shoes. He is no longer alive. He has been killed. My father and 22 others were buried in a corner of this hill in the mass grave,” he said.

It is said that these civilians were massacred while trying to escape an attack by the Taliban and Daesh militants. 

The Taliban has rejected these claims but Daesh on Tuesday claimed responsibility. 

Assadullah, a resident of Sar-e-Pul, said he lost his son in the attack. 

“When the Taliban arrested them, his mother told the Taliban that they are from the capital of Sar-e-Pul, but the Taliban said that we will take your son even if you are from Sar-e-Pul or anywhere else,” he said.

Ramazan, a member of the public uprising force, said he spent eight days in the custody of Taliban and Daesh.

He shared some of the brutal stories from his time as hostage. 

“They (militants) were taking people to the top of the hill and were saying that their clerics are there and will preach for you, but they (militants) started killing them one by one and threw their bodies down the hill,” he said.

Daesh insurgents issued a statement on Tuesday and claimed responsibility for the attack on Mirza Olang valley in Sayyad district of northern Sar-e-Pul province, which claimed the lives of over 50 people.