Mass graves found in Afghanistan

Three mass graves have been found in the central Afghan region of Bamiyan, a UN spokesman has said.

The graves are situated near the airport of the provincial capital of Bamiyan, about 125 kilometres (80 miles) north-west of Kabul.

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 Taleban late last year, 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," he said.

He added that the area had been cordoned off, awaiting the arrival of a team including officials from the UN and the Afghan interior ministry.

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

The graves are near the site of Buddhist statues destroyed by the Taleban last year, provoking international outrage.