The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) began collecting bodies from the streets of the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan today.
One hundred graves have been dug so far, a spokesman said.
ICRC staff have received security assurances from local commanders to move freely and have begun, with tribal volunteers, to remove dead bodies from the streets, Mr Michael Kleiner told reporters in Kabul.
Mr Kleiner said earlier that local commanders had asked the ICRC to help bury bodies in and around the city, but he had no information on the total number of dead or their nationalities.
"We are trying to collect as much information as possible about the bodies prior to burial for possible later identification," he said.
The Geneva-based ICRC has 63 Afghan staff working in Kandahar, mainly at the local Mir Wais hospital, Mr Kleiner said.