is a victim/survivor of a/an
Additional information
Date of birth:
1315
Village/Town of birth:
Siadara, Norka
Province of birth:
Bamyan: Bamyan
Gender:
Male
Ethnicity:
Hazara
Education:
Illiterate
Date of the main incident:
1979
Place of the main incident:
Bamyan, Shaidan
Incident description
In the spring of 1979, Reza Bakhsh Zawar was shot and killed by Soviet forces in the Shahidan neighbourhood of central Bamyan. Soviet airplanes opened fire on the Shahidan people, killing Reza Bakhsh Zawar and around forty other people. He took one gunshot to the head and another to the chest. The remains of the victims laid on the ground for many days until the Soviet aircraft raids stopped, forcing the locals to dig mass graves and bury the bodies in their clothing without shrouds.
AHRDO Archive
Alleged type of harm
Alleged type of crimes
Province:
Bamyan: Bamyan
Latitude:
34.8120971933654
Longitude:
67.8204912412629
Latitude: 34.8120971933654
Longitude: 67.8204912412629
He Died from Attack Helicopter Bullets
Husniya Khademi is a housewife and is the third narrator of this incident. She is narrating from her mother’s perspective. This story tells of the massacre in Bamiyan during the Soviet occupation. Many lost their lives at that time and bodies were buried in mass graves.
Narrator: Husniya Khademi (granddaughter of a sibling)
Victim: Reza Bakhsh Zawar (43-years-old)
Place of incident: Shahidan, Bamiyan Province
Date of incident: 1979
In spring of 1979, the Soviet soldiers shot him to death in the Shahidan area of Bamiyan Province. Reza Bakhsh Zawar was born in Norka Village, Sia Dara area of Bamiyan Province. During the years of the Soviet attacks, my mother’s uncle went to Shahidan area to look after his nephew. As a result of the rounds of fire by Soviet attack helicopters on the people of Shahidan area, he, along with forty other people, were killed. One bullet hit his head and the other hit his chest. The dead bodies remained on the ground for several days until the Soviet attacks calmed down, after which the people gathered to bury all the bodies in a mass grave without any graveclothes.
My mother’s uncle (Reza Bakhsh Zawar) was a farmer. He was married with a daughter and a son. His parents had died previously and he did not have any siblings. His body was left where he had died for a week. His wife did not know about his death, but after my father went to that area and came back, he informed her. His wife left the village one month after his death. Their house, which my uncle is taking care of, is still there to this day. The widow was the breadwinner of the family and they migrated to Iran where she worked to support two of her children. Afterward, her son broke his leg in a traffic accident and he can no longer work. Also, my mother’s aunt, who had cancer, went to Iran but passed away in the spring of 2019. She left behind two sons and two daughters.
The life of Reza Bakhsh Zawar’s widow was good in Iran at the beginning, but her son’s (Asad) traffic accident has caused a toll on them. The victim’s widow passed away last year in Iran, and her daughter also passed away this year. Asad is married and has one daughter. He is forced to provide for her despite his physical disadvantage.
