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Bodies of 10 children were found in Tanzania in an alleged witchcraft killing. This is a representational image showing a police officer cordoning off an area in Zanzibar's Michenzani neighborhood, Oct. 31, 2015. Getty Images/Tony Karumba

The bodies of 10 children, who were kidnapped from their homes in the Njombe district in Tanzania in December, were found by police. Authorities said they found the mutilated bodies — which had the ears hacked off — during a full-scale search operation of the region recently.

The killings are believed to be linked to witchcraft practices, police reportedly said, adding that the kids were aged between two and 10. The children reportedly went missing while their parents sold food at a market.

"So far, we have found 10 bodies, and most of their private parts and teeth had been removed," Deputy health minister Faustine Ndugulile said, according to the Sun. "These murders are linked to witchcraft practices because that is the trend for such crimes, where herbalists ask people to get these human parts for money rituals."

According to the report, witch doctors in the region believe human body parts have special features that can help bring wealth and luck to those who possess them. Details about the killers were being investigated by police.

"We want to identify the perpetrators, but our focus is to educate the traditional practitioners in the area quickly and those in surrounding communities on the need to stop these acts," Ndugulile told CNN, adding that the killings were not linked to albino ritual murders. In Tanzania and other parts of east Africa, children with albinism — a congenital disorder characterized in humans by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes — were killed and the practice was very prevalent.

"These murders are not linked to albino killings," Ndugulile said. "But it is very sad because they are children and they don't deserve to be used like this."

Tanzania has one of the highest rates of albinism in the world, at one in 1,500 people. There were cases in which albinos were killed for their bones and organs, which were sold to witch doctors for making "charms and magical potions."

"This is all about superstitious beliefs and many believe they will get help from witchcraft," Njombe District Commissioner Ruth Msafiri told BBC. "We urge all parents and guardians to be on alert and teach their children on how [to] determine the motives of who is around them."

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