![Witnesses said security forces and their allies attacked civilians with machetes and knives or strangled them with ropes in Mai-Kadra, an agricultural town near the Sudanese border, on November 9. Pictured, one of several mass graves where victims are said to be buried [Photo by Getty Imahes]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/36766554-9046891-image-a-52_1607805124035.jpg?resize=448%2C300&ssl=1)
This came after villagers yesterday discovered the month-old mass grave in the forest, about 155 miles (250km) north of the capital, Lilongwe while hunting wild insects in the Mtangatanga Forest Reserve.
The preliminary investigation gathered from the site indicated the victims were Ethiopian men between 25 and 40 years old.
The decomposing bodies were exhumed and taken to a morgue for autopsy.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia said in a statement on Friday said investigations into the discovery of the mass grave of 25 Ethiopian migrants are underway.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia would like to affirm that the Government of Ethiopia, together with the Government of Malawi, is investigating the alleged stories that circulate over social media regarding the discovery of mass graves of 25 Ethiopians,” it said in a statement seen by Sudans Post on Friday.
Authorities in Malawi said between January and September this year, authorities intercepted 221 migrants, 186 of whom were Ethiopians.
Malawi is a transit route for foreigners, especially Ethiopians, who are trafficked through Malawi en route to South Africa.
The foreigners mostly use uncharted routes and sometimes find refuge in the forest.
