Mass grave thought to hold 10,000

Press, 30 August 1984, Page 15

Mass grave thought to hold 10,000

NZPA-AFP Harare Some 10,000 guerrillas and civilians killed by Rhodesian forces during the war to end white minority rule in Zimbabwe were buried in a mass grave in Rusape, about 180 km east of Harare said the Minister of Information, Nathan Shamuyarira. The Zimbabwe Government had previously estimated the number of people in the graves under the Rusape rifle range at 4000. Speaking during a military memorial service at the site, Mr Shamuyarira quoted old Rhodesian Army records as saying that those buried at Rusape included nationalist guerrillas as

well as civilians killed by Rhodesian forces. Their bodies were brought to the rifle range grave from all over the country and buried secretly to avoid publicity, he said. A monument would be built at the site to Zimbabwe’s fallen freedom fighters. Mr Shamuyarira said that smaller gravesites lay under the tarred airstrip at Mutoko, in northeastern Zimbabwe, and in Odzi, Chilimanzi, and Mount Darwin. It is estimated that 30,000 people died in the decadelong struggle for majority rule, most of the victims being black subsistence fanners.