Government forensic experts exhumed the bodies of seven peasants allegedly massacred by the army two weeks ago and one expert said they were "killed by people who fired at close range."
Gravediggers opened the graves Wednesday near the village of San Francisco on orders from the attorney general's office investigating charges soldiers shot a group of 10 unarmed peasants in cold blood after interrogating them.The army initially said the peasants, seven men and three women, died Sept. 21 during a rebel ambush but changed its story a day later when relatives of the dead accused the army of the killings. If army culpability is found, it would be the largest massacre of civilians by soldiers since 1984.