Grave of assassinated Burkina Faso leader exhumed nearly 30 years after his death

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – Authorities have exhumed human remains from the grave of an assassinated president of Burkina Faso, nearly three decades after he was killed.

A family lawyer confirmed Tuesday that they also found bits of fabric inside the purported grave of former leader Thomas Sankara.

Sankara, a Marxist revolutionary, was killed in 1987 during a coup staged by his once-best friend Blaise Compaore.

Compaore was forced from power late last year, and Sankara's family later demanded that his remains be exhumed. The family and many others in Burkina Faso want to know how Sankara was killed and if in fact the remains in the grave are actually his.