Seven skeletal remains previously identified at the Chemmani mass grave site were fully excavated on Friday as excavation work entered its 23rd day in the third phase of investigations.
During Friday's excavation, a total of 12 human skeletal remains were identified at the site. Of those previously identified, seven skeletal remains were completely excavated.
With the latest findings, a total of 353 skeletal remains have been identified at the Chemmani mass grave site. Of these, 334 skeletal remains have been excavated to date.
The ongoing investigations at the Chemmani mass grave have so far resulted in several tragic discoveries, including the skeletal remains of children and infants found among more than 20 clusters of skeletal remains identified at the site.
Investigators have also recovered over 100 artefacts during the excavation process, as efforts to uncover and document the remains continue.
The Chemmani mass grave remains one of the most significant mass grave investigations in the Tamil homeland. The site first drew international attention in the late 1990s after a Sri Lankan soldier alleged that hundreds of Tamils who disappeared during military operations in Jaffna had been buried there.
As excavations continue to uncover skeletal remains, including those of children, the findings have renewed calls from families of the disappeared, Tamil political representatives and human rights advocates for international oversight and accountability for enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and wartime atrocities committed by Sri Lankan state forces in the North-East.