Sixteen bodies buried in a mass grave were recovered on Friday from the Jowakhi mountainous area of Bobo Khel, bordering the city of Nowshera, police said.
According to police, the bodies have all been lifted from the grave and an investigation into the matter is underway.
District administration and a team from the Shangla Coal Mines Workers Welfare Association were present on site during the extraction of bodies.
Geo News correspondent Yasir Shah said that in 2011, some labourers from Dara Adam Khel had been kidnapped, murdered and their bodies disposed of in the mountains.
Subsequently, in March 2012, more than 50 bodies had been found buried in mass graves in the Jowakhi mountainous area. Among these, some were bodies of the Shangla coal miners.
"Due to the sensitive nature of law and order in this area, there was no movement of people here," said the correspondent.
"The heirs of the deceased (through the coal miners association) urged the government to return to them the bodies, so a rescue operation was carried out today," Shah added.
According to Geo News, after footage of the 2012 discovery of bodies was aired, a large army operation was carried out that cleared the area of hideouts belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group.
Video goes viral on social media, drawing anger from netizens and demand for harsh penalties
Political Financing Wing of ECP has asked PTI representatives to appear before electoral watchdog on April 30
Epicentre of the earthquake was New Malir Karachi
IT ministry notifies tech expert's appointment as convener of Digital Pakistan committee headed by state minister
Pakistani, Irani leaders highlight need to resolve Kashmir issue via peaceful means based on will of people
Petitioners raise objections on top court's six-member bench hearing military court's case