World in brief: Bodies unearthed from mass killings

Grave by mass grave, South Korea is unearthing the skeletons and buried truths of a cold-blooded slaughter from early in the Korean War, when this nation’s U.S.-backed regime killed untold thousands of leftists and peasants during a summer of terror in 1950.

With U.S. military officers sometimes present, and as North Korean invaders pushed down the peninsula, the southern army and police emptied South Korean prisons, lined up detainees and shot them in the head, dumping the bodies into hastily dug trenches. Others were thrown into abandoned mines or the sea. Women and children were among those killed. Many victims never faced charges or trial.

The executions – intended to keep possible southern leftists from reinforcing the northerners – were carried out over mere weeks and were largely hidden from history for a half-century.

They were “the most tragic and brutal chapter of the Korean War,” said historian Kim Dong-choon, a member of a 2-year-old government commission investigating the killings.

Hundreds of sets of remains have been uncovered, but researchers say they are a tiny fraction of the deaths.

The commission estimates at least 100,000 people were executed, in a South Korean population of 20 million.

That estimate is based on projections from local surveys and is “very conservative,” said Kim. The true toll may be twice that or more, he said.

CAIRO, Egypt

Bin Laden slams Arab leaders

Osama bin Laden released a new message on Sunday accusing Arab leaders of sacrificing the Palestinians and calling on Muslim militants in Egypt to help break the blockade of Gaza.

Bin Laden called Arab leaders “agents of the crusaders” and “wolves” in the audio message posted on an Islamic militant Web site where al-Qaida leaders have issued past statements. He portrayed the citizens of Arab nations as herds of sheep handed over to be looked after by wolves.

“Every day, the herd wishes the wolves would stop preying on it,” he said.

“Those (Arab) kings and leaders sacrificed Palestine and Al-Aqsa to keep their crowns. … But we will not be relieved of this responsibility,” bin Laden said.

Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City is one of the holiest sites for Muslims.

KABUL, Afghanistan

Two killed in roadside bombing

A roadside bomb hit a U.S. military vehicle Sunday in southern Afghanistan, killing one coalition service member and an Afghan civilian.

A statement from the U.S.-led coalition said another service member was seriously injured in the attack in southern Zabul province. It did not give further details about the casualties or say if the civilian killed was a bystander or working with the coalition.

In eastern Nangarhar province, suspected Taliban militants shot and killed two police officers Sunday in Khogyani district, said Mohammad Hashim Ghamsharik, spokesman for the provincial governor.

He said the two men had just been dispatched to Nangarhar on Saturday as reinforcements from Kabul. They walked outside their police post and were attacked from insurgents in a nearby village, Ghamsharik said.

More than 1,200 people – mostly militants – have died in insurgency-related violence so far this year, according to a tally compiled by the Associated Press.

In western Herat province, meanwhile, Afghan security forces launched a search-and-rescue operation Sunday in Adraskan district, freeing an Indian and a Nepalese road construction worker who were kidnapped on April 21, said provincial police Chief Juma Adil.

He said the chief hostage-taker was arrested.

There have been several attacks on Indian road construction crews in the country.