Human Rights
Afghan probe verifies shooting deaths of migrants in Iran despite official denials
The regime's attempt to cover up the massacre of Afghan refugees in mid October has provoked a angry reaction from Iranian citizens.
![An Afghan migrant shot by Iranian border guards on October 13 near the Kala Gan area along the Pakistan-Iran border receives treatment at a hospital after being transported by Afghan officials. [Courtesy of Hamdullah Fitrat]](/gc3/images/2024/11/06/48040-a_3-370_237.webp)
By Emran |
Afghan authorities have confirmed the recent killing of Afghan migrants by Iranian border forces, despite denials from Iranian officials.
Iranian border forces on October 13 fired on approximately 300 Afghans attempting to cross from Pakistan into Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province.
The Haalvsh Human Rights Organization reported that 260 Afghan migrants were killed, with numerous others wounded in the incident.
Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson for Afghanistan's current government, issued a statement on X on October 31, confirming that evidence gathered by a fact-finding committee in the Kala Gan border area near Iran indicated that Afghan migrants were fired upon.
The committee has verified the deaths of two individuals, with 34 others injured, Fitrat said.
The investigation remains ongoing, and further details are expected.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials have continued to dismiss the allegations.
Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's ambassador to Kabul, denied the incident on October 16, saying on X that credible sources had verified no such deaths along the border.
Qomi called the media outlets reporting on the event "fabricators" and said that Iran's treatment of Afghan migrants remains responsible and aligned with policies of good neighborliness, Islamic compassion and international treaty obligations.
Hours later, Gen. Reza Shojaei, commander of the Sistan and Baluchestan Border Guard, further denounced reports of the incident, calling the circulated images and reports "entirely false."
Deceptive approach
The Iranian regime's attempt to cover up the massacre of Afghan refugees has provoked a reaction from Iranian citizens.
Iranian authorities initially tried to hide the killings of Afghan migrants just as they had attempted to conceal the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, said Milad, 27, a resident of Zabol, Iran.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down the aircraft on January 8, 2020, shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 occupants on board.
"The Islamic Republic has always tried to mask its crimes through deception and secrecy. But the sun cannot be hidden with two fingers, and the whole world knows about the tyranny and terror of the Islamic Republic," Milad told Pishtaz.
"The massacre of hundreds of helpless, defenseless people is not a minor issue that the officials of the Islamic Republic can simply hide through lies... those responsible for this massacre must be identified and brought to justice," he said.
"The officials of the Islamic Republic are skilled in covering up and avoiding responsibility," he add.
"In the face of all the evidence of Afghan migrants being shot, the coverup by Iranian officials is disgraceful," Milad said.
I am Iranian and I love my country. Today, when Iranians are under economic pressure and other problems, do the governments of the world not object to anyone who comes and enters their country illegally? Why should the Iranian nation accept Afghans who produce drugs? For forty years, Afghans have made millions of Iranian youth and families miserable by producing and sending opium and heroin to my country. Now, is it acceptable to you to bring Afghans who have dirty traditions of sodomy close to children and families, which today's Iranian government has done? You governments and organizations, instead of supporting the law and the nation, tormented from all sides, and reminding Afghan government not to let them enter Iran anymore are going after Iran’s government why they did not allow entering. You, respected writer, if you want to be fair take these several million Afghans and keep them in your country for a year. If you have 24 hours, please write in your article that the Iranian nation can no longer accept this Afghan people as it won’t take long that the nation get engaged with Afghans, which will be very dangerous. Thank you, Iranians.
America itself did not care for the Afghans, and with that terrible way shot schools and people; now it wants to provoke the two nations without any evidence or testimony.
Salam Alaikum... Don't forget, the people of Afghanistan today are the descendants of the same people who in many old wars... were a loyal shield for our homeland and people... do not extend the thoughtlessness of our elders, and the opportunism of some to our people. May Ali empower us … until later...
From the time I got to know myself until now, when I am 56 years old, I have friends who are currently running shops and are Afghans. I have nothing to do with the regime, but the people of Iran and Afghanistan are brothers, and these accusations do not stick to any military force. It is true that some of them are illegal; they enter without documents and illegally, but this should not be extended to all even those who enter without documents, and the same is the case with us. So why are you dishonest and conceal the truth that Afghans have been sustaining themselves on us, Iranians, and they are still commuting. Now that the law is a front for illegalities, now we have become bad and dishonorable to a point. In addition, if you read the history, you will see that Afghanistan and other places were all under the flag of Iran and Iranians.