The United Nations has promised to investigate a mass grave believed to contain hundreds of Taliban soldiers.
The grave lies just off a main road on the outskirts of the northern Afghan town of Shibergan. The site is close to the jail where many Taliban prisoners were held by US-backed Afghan forces.
A former commander said most of those buried died of injuries suffered in fighting before they were captured.
But people who claimed to be witnesses said many of the prisoners suffocated during their four-day-long transport to Shibergan in unventilated metal shipping containers.
Human rights groups demanded an investigation and the UN promised to send a delegation to meet Mr Abdul Rashid Dostum, the northern warlord whose forces captured the Taliban and oversaw their transport.
Mr Dostum has denied his forces killed any of the captives and has promised to cooperate with an investigation.
The Afghan cabinet has said it will investigate but has yet to do so.
PA