A mass grave from the end of World War II has been discovered in Slovenia.

斯洛文尼亚境内发现二战末期的一个乱葬冈。

The 20m-long pit near the town of Prevalje is believed to contain the remains¹ of up to 700 men and women, said government official Marko Strovs.

Some of the people buried in the grave appear to have been shot, others seem to have been hacked²（乱砍） to death, he added.

Researchers believe the victims might have been suspected Nazi³ collaborators（合作者，投敌者） killed by communist-backed anti-fascists.

The victims' shoes show that at least some of them were civilians⁴, said Mr Strovs, who works for the government commission for exhuming⁵（发掘） mass graves.

Initial findings indicate that their hands were tied behind their backs.

"Based on what we've heard from local people and what we've seen so far, there could be about 700 bodies buried inside," Mr Strovs said.

Rumours⁶ about a mass killing⁷ in the Prevalje forest in northern Slovenia have reportedly circulated in the area for years, after a boy said he witnessed the executions while hiding behind a tree.

Investigators⁸ moved in last week, after recent floods and a landslide⁹ revealed some bones.

The bodies will be exhumed¹⁰ once a prosecutor¹¹ officially launches an investigation¹².

Anti-fascists killed thousands of suspected Nazi collaborators after the war, but often also murdered innocent civilians.

The authorities in the former Yugoslavia played down（贬低，降低） or denied the killings¹³, but several mass graves have been found in the region in recent years.