ISLAMABAD : 17 Oct 2024 – Irani border guards are alleged to have killed 280 Afghans in Sistan province with light weapons according to media reports from Afghanistan. The border guards contradict the reports while Spokesperson of Kabul Regime , Zabeeh Ullah Mujahid has said that investigation is on to confirm the mass killing.
Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, denied the reports of the “death of dozens of illegal nationals” in a post on X.
He said late Wednesday: “The results of direct follow-ups from reliable sources show that the news about the deaths of dozens of illegal citizens at the border of Saravan is not true.”
He stated that preventing the entry of illegal immigrants is the responsibility of Iran’s border forces. Iran is committed to returning Afghan refugees and in this matter, it acts according to international treaties, he added.
Tolo News quoted an “Iranian human rights organisation” saying that Iranian border guards had attacked the migrants.
On Tuesday, an Iranian-based human rights organization, Haalvsh, claimed Iranian forces had gunned down at least 260 Afghan migrants near the Kalgan Saravan region in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province on Sunday evening.
According to Haalvsh, survivors of the shooting described horror scenes when Iranian military forces targeted the group.Haalvsh reported that two survivors said there had been a group of about 300 migrants trying to cross the border when they were shot at and targeted with RPGs.
An eye witness has been quoted by Afghan media that 300 Afghans were crossing the border from Afghanistan into Iran when the border guards opened indiscriminate firing. “They were hiding in the mountains and from there were firing at the Afghans, shared the witness to Afghan media.
The United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan called on Thursday for an investigation into reports that a large group of Afghan migrants had been shot and killed on the Afghanistan-Iran border.
The United Nations’ Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a statement expressed “deep concern over disturbing reports of an incident on 14 to 15 October in Sistan province, Sarbaz district, Kala Gan border area of Iran, with allegations that a large group of Afghan migrants were opened fire on, resulting in deaths and injuries.”
UNAMA called for a “thorough and transparent” investigation into the alleged incident, stressing that the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers are protected by international law.
Afghanistan authorities have been unable to confirm the incident because it happened “beyond Afghanistan’s borders,” deputy spokesman of the government Hamdullah Fitrat said in a statement.
He said a high-ranking delegation with officials from the interior, foreign and defence ministries had begun an investigation and would submit a report once the facts were clear.
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