Photos from Sri Lanka show a mass grave with children’s skeletons that raises fears of more war dead
A number identifies a human skeleton exhumed from a mass grave in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
CHEMMANI, Sri Lanka (AP) — A baby bottle, a squeaky toy and a schoolbag are among items that have surfaced from a mass grave site in Sri Lanka’s formerly war-torn northern region, along with 141 human skeletons including some that appear to be of children of different ages.
The identities of the dead and the cause and timing of their deaths are all unclear. But many think the victims whose remains were uncovered in the Chemmani area could be civilians who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s civil war. The war, which broke out in 1983, pitted government forces against ethnic Tamil rebels who fought to create an independent homeland for the minority group. The conflict ended in 2009.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
An exhumed human skeleton is seen with a school bag at the site of a mass grave in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Kanapathipillai Kumanan)
An exhumed human skeleton is seen with a school bag at the site of a mass grave in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Kanapathipillai Kumanan)
Ethnic Tamil women whose sons went missing during the Sri Lankan civil war, wait outside the site of a mass grave where authorities exhibited unearthed belongings in an effort to secure the identities of the victims, in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Ethnic Tamil women whose sons went missing during the Sri Lankan civil war, wait outside the site of a mass grave where authorities exhibited unearthed belongings in an effort to secure the identities of the victims, in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Signs in Tamil, English, and Sinhala languages are put up to demarcate an excavation area at the site of a mass grave in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Signs in Tamil, English, and Sinhala languages are put up to demarcate an excavation area at the site of a mass grave in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Senthilvel Sothiladchumi, an ethnic Sri Lankan Tamil, center, whose son went missing during the Sri Lankan civil war, cries as she leaves the site of a mass grave where authorities exhibited unearthed belongings in an effort to secure the identities of the victims, in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Senthilvel Sothiladchumi, an ethnic Sri Lankan Tamil, center, whose son went missing during the Sri Lankan civil war, cries as she leaves the site of a mass grave where authorities exhibited unearthed belongings in an effort to secure the identities of the victims, in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Isaiyaas Jeyamary, an ethnic Sri Lankan Tamil woman, holds a portrait of her son who went missing during the Sri Lankan civil war, at her home in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Isaiyaas Jeyamary, an ethnic Sri Lankan Tamil woman, holds a portrait of her son who went missing during the Sri Lankan civil war, at her home in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil Satkunarasa Rahulan stands next to his mother in their home where a photograph of himself and his missing father Sanmugam Satkunarasa, left in the laminated portrait, adorns a wall, in Manippai, Sri Lanka, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil Satkunarasa Rahulan stands next to his mother in their home where a photograph of himself and his missing father Sanmugam Satkunarasa, left in the laminated portrait, adorns a wall, in Manippai, Sri Lanka, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Magistrate Amalavalan Anandarajah, wearing a black suit, and archaeologist Prof. Raj Somadeva, in a white hat, along with other officials inspect the exhumation work at a mass grave site in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Magistrate Amalavalan Anandarajah, wearing a black suit, and archaeologist Prof. Raj Somadeva, in a white hat, along with other officials inspect the exhumation work at a mass grave site in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Isaiyaas Jeyamary, an ethnic Sri Lankan Tamil whose son went missing during the Sri Lankan civil war, leaves the site of a mass grave where authorities exhibited unearthed belongings in an effort to secure the identities of the victims, in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Isaiyaas Jeyamary, an ethnic Sri Lankan Tamil whose son went missing during the Sri Lankan civil war, leaves the site of a mass grave where authorities exhibited unearthed belongings in an effort to secure the identities of the victims, in Chemmani, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Wedding photos of Sri Lankan ethnic Tamils Sanmugam Satkunarasa and Ranjanidevi are placed next to a certificate issued by the government declaring the husband missing, at their home in Manippai, Sri Lanka, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Wedding photos of Sri Lankan ethnic Tamils Sanmugam Satkunarasa and Ranjanidevi are placed next to a certificate issued by the government declaring the husband missing, at their home in Manippai, Sri Lanka, Aug. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
