HERAT: 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.

Afghan media outlets including Tolo News, citing witnesses, said more than 200 Afghan migrants who entered Iran illegally were attacked on Iranian territory, and that several had been killed and injured.

Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, denied the reports of the “death of dozens of illegal nationals” in a post on X. Tolo News quoted an “Iranian human rights organisation” saying that Iranian border guards had attacked the migrants.

Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration has not confirmed the incident and said it was investigating.

The United Nations’ Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) in a statement expressed “deep concern over disturbing reports of an incident on 14 to 15 Oct 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.” It did not make any reference to who might have carried out the alleged attack.

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.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2024