The remains of 92 people killed in a 1984 massacre at the height of fighting between Peruvian troops and guerillas were returned to their families Thursday for a memorial ceremony.

Only 28 of the bodies exhumed in May 2008 from a mass grave in the small Andean town of Putis have been identified after 15 months of work by a group of  Peruvian jurists, the International Committee of the Red Cross and human rights  groups.

Some families have been given anonymous remains, and all the bones  recovered from the site will be buried in a group ceremony on Saturday in  Putis.

The town was the scene of some of the worst violence during 20 years of conflict between the Peruvian government and insurgents from the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement guerilla groups.

Some 70,000 people were killed between 1980 and 2000, including in the December 13, 1984 massacre in Putis, which was first revealed by a truth and  reconciliation commission.

Around 50 of those killed in the massacre were minors, 38 of them less than 10 years old.

Photo: Flickr martintoy
Source: AFP