UN reports mass graves in central Afghanistan

The United Nations says three mass graves have been found in the central Afghanistan region of Bamiyan.

They are situated near the airport of the provincial capital, not far from the site of Buddhist statues destroyed by the Taliban last year

The UN has been told the graves are thought to contain bodies of members of the local Hazara community killed before the fall of the Taliban late last year.

The BBC reports UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said: "We do not yet know the number of bodies or when they were buried. These graves were unknown until now."

The area has been cordoned off, awaiting the arrival of a team including officials from the UN and the Afghan interior ministry.

While in power, the Taliban were accused several times of massacring Hazaras in the Bamiyan area in reprisal for earlier killings.