Scores of Afghan refugees have reportedly been massacred by Iranian border guards as the ambushed the desperate group of 300 attempting to flee the Taliban.
The Islamic Republic’s border forces opened fire on the migrants as they tried to cross into Iran via the Iran-Pakistan border on Sunday night, multiple sources reported.
‘Dozens of Afghan nationals at the Saravan border were targeted,’ said the Haalvsh human rights news agency, which monitors rights violations in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan region.
Border guards brutally launched bullets and rockets in the direction of the migrants as they tried to enter Iran illegally, according to Haalvsh.
A survivor from the group claimed only 50 to 60 individuals made it out of the ambush alive, but due to the lack of internet access in the remote region, the exact number of casualties has not yet been officially confirmed.
Some 300 Afghan nationals at the Iran-Pakistan border were reportedly targeted by Iranian border guards as they attempted to flee from the Taliban on Sunday
Scores of refugees were massacred by the guards, according to local reports
The alleged massacre comes after a crackdown by the Iranian regime on migrants trying to escape the clutches of the Taliban. Pictured: Taliban security personnel stand guard as an Afghan burqa-clad woman (right) walks along a street at a market in the Baharak district of Badakhshan province on February 26, 2024
‘We were at the Kalagan border when they ambushed us,’ one survivor said.
‘We were around 300 people, maybe 50 or 60 people survived unscathed, everyone else was either martyred or injured. Twelve of my friends were also killed’.
Haalvsh released videos purportedly showing the bodies of those slain, alleging that the refugees were not only targeted by gunfire but also by RPG attacks.
The graphic footage showed the bodies of several migrants lying motionless in the desert and their clothes stained red with blood.
One clip, shot during the night, shows a man urgently attempting to stem blood flowing from a severely wounded companion.
He quickly wraps a scarf around the victim’s leg but the blood gushing from the wound seeps into the material and begins leaking through the fabric.
‘He is my cousin and he was shot four times,’ a man’s voice could be heard saying.
‘It happened when we were crossing into Iran.’
The incident has drawn widespread outrage and concern both domestically and internationally.
However, neither Iranian authorities nor the Taliban have issued official statements about the event.
The former Afghan attorney general has said that the ‘deliberate killing’ of Afghan migrants by Iranian border guards is a ‘crime against humanity.
Haalvsh released videos purportedly showing the bodies of those slain, alleging that the refugees were not only targeted by gunfire but also by RPG attacks
The Islamic Republic has said it hopes to achieve two million deportations by March next year. Pictured: A Taliban security personnel talks with a flag vendor outside the Eid Gah mosque in Kabul on April 20, 2023
Mohammad Farid Hamidi, the former Attorney General of Afghanistan, said on X, that the ‘deliberate killings of defenseless migrants and refugees, knowing they are vulnerable and unprotected, constitutes a crime against humanity—an egregious and inhumane act.’
Several wounded migrants were rushed to a clinic in a nearby Pakistani town, but before police arrived to document the necessary legal paperwork, the injured migrants had fled the centre.
However, the Islamic Republic’s special representative for Afghanistan denied the shooting.
‘As of now, it has been confirmed that reports of dozens of illegal migrants dying at the Saravan border are false,’ Hassan Kazemi Ghomi claimed.
He said the Islamic Republic ‘is determined to return unauthorised refugees and to take legal action against their illegal entry at all border points’.
The alleged massacre comes after a crackdown by the Iranian regime on migrants trying to escape the clutches of the Taliban.
According to the UN, around 4.5million Afghans live in Iran, with many having fled the country since the government takeover of the Taliban in 2021.
To stop swathes of more migrants reaching the country, Tehran has also launched plans to build a 13ft-tall wall along a stretch of the 900km border with Afghanistan.
The Islamic Republic has said it hopes to achieve two million deportations by March next year, with Afghans already banned from buying groceries, renting homes, and visiting certain places.
