KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — Police are still exhuming the bodies found in the mass graves discovered in Padang Besar, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

The home minister said it has not been determined if bodies are those of people-smuggling victims as has been claimed, and the authorities here were working closely with their Thai counterparts on the matter.

“The forensic unit of PRDM (Royal Malaysian police) are still digging the mass graves… and will conduct a few forensic tests not only to determine the number of bodies in each grave but also to identify whether they are Rohinya or Bangladeshi victims of human traffickers,” he told a news conference at the Parliament lobby.

“We are also working with Thai authorities to get information.. .this information exchange is not only on a legal matter but also a humanitarian issue,” he added.

Yesterday, the Home Ministry confirmed the discovery of mass graves near 17 tents believed to have been used to accommodate refugees in Padang Besar.

Zahid had said the General Operations Force and the VAT 69 police commando unit had found 14 large tents and three other smaller tents located on the Malaysia-Thailand border.

Shocked by the discovery, he said the tents were believed to have been operational for at least five years and they were believed to have been abandoned when the authorities came to the location.