Gyuneli Mahle massacre

The Gyuneli Mahle massacre was the mass killing of Bulgarian civilians in Gyuneli Mahle, now Lyubenova Mahala, near Nova Zagora, on 14 July 1877. Ottoman regular troops, Circassians and bashi-bazouks carried it out during the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation. Estimates range from 1,013 to 2,400 victims.

The background dates to 3 July 1877, when Russian troops reached Nova Zagora, prompting the Ottoman defenders to kill Bulgarians in the town. News reached surrounding villages, whose inhabitants decided to gather in Gyuneli Mahle.

On 14 July, troops stationed at Nova Zagora railway station were ordered to repair damaged railway tracks near Risimanovo and investigate why people were gathering in Gyuneli Mahle. They moved towards the village with artillery and Circassians.

According to testimony, Rauf Pasha, commander of the Ottoman troops in the town, responded to reports by reinforcing his detachment and deciding to attack. Circassians arriving near Gyuneli Mahle clashed with local people, leaving two of them dead.

The troops sought revenge. The village was surrounded, shelled and stormed. Many villagers sheltered in the churchyard and church, where mass killing began. The villagers' ineffective resistance and the fall of darkness allowed many wounded people to escape.

Different sources report 1,013 victims from Gyuneli Mahle and about 921 from other villages. A commission visiting on 17 July found that they were ordinary villagers, with no revolutionary fighters or Russians among them.