Pakistan forms judicial commission to probe mass grave

Pakistani authorities today formed a judicial commission to probe a mass grave with at least 13 bodies discovered in the restive Balochistan province.
Justice Noor Mohammad Muzkanzai of the Balochistan High Court will head the commission formed by the provincial government.
According to an official statement, the panel will submit its report in a month's time after conducting an investigation.
At least 13 unidentified decomposed bodies have been recovered from the mass grave in Khuzdar area. The grave was discovered last Saturday.
Vultures and crows hovering over the desolate area attracted the attention of local residents, who informed the administration.

Relatives of "missing persons", or those detained without charge by security and intelligence agencies, fear the bodies could be of their kin.

Khuzdar is among the areas hit hardest by violence by nationalist groups and militants and the situation has forced many families to migrate from the area.
The issue of missing persons in the province has been taken up with the Balochistan High Court and the Supreme Court.
Rights groups have accused security agencies of killing detained nationalists and dumping their bodies across the province. In the past few years, hundreds of bodies with bullet injuries and marks of torture have been found in Balochistan.

The security agencies and the military have denied involvement in these killings.