ANJAR, Lebanon, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Lebanese forces unearthed on Saturday at least 20 decomposed corpses buried in a mass grave in an eastern town that was the headquarters of Syrian intelligence for three decades, security sources said. Witnesses and security sources said the bodies, most now only skeletons in scraps of underwear, were found on an old onion farm in the town of Anjar, long used by Syrian intelligence as a jail and interrogation centre.

They said the bodies had lain in the shallow grave for over 12 years but it was not immediately clear who they were and how they died. Security forces were using a bulldozer to dig for more bodies. It is the first such find directly linked to the Syrian presence, which ended in April.Syria first poured troops into Lebanon in 1976, establishing a intelligence network feared by many Lebanese and dominated Lebanon’s politics after the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. Many Lebanese resented Syria’s grip.