Sudanese authorities have discovered a mass grave in the town of Omdurman, thought to be where former President Omar Al-Bashir buried 28 officers who participated in an attempted coup against him in 1990.

The Sudanese attorney-general’s office announced in a statement on Thursday that it had found a mass grave, noting that the location of the grave was discovered following “exhaustive three-week efforts”.

Months after Bashir’s seizure of power in June 1989 with the backing of Islamists, officers from various units of the Sudanese army launched a military coup against him. But within hours of taking control of certain military units in the capital, the attempt failed. The plotters were referred to a military trial, which sentenced 28 of them to death, and the others with prison sentences.

The attorney-general’s statement indicated that the investigative committee appointed by Attorney-General Tag El-Sir El-Hibir last November, to investigate the murders of the police officers: “Will take the necessary steps to complete the investigation procedures once the site is protected, in addition to taking the necessary procedures and writing the reports by the competent authorities of forensic medicine, the department of forensic evidence and the division of the crime scene.”

El-Hibir confirmed that the mass grave was placed under military protection: “To prevent any access to the area until the completion of the investigation.”

Source: Middle East Monitor