Afghanistan repatriates two killed in Iran 'explosions and gunfire'

Afghanistan's Taliban government said Thursday it had repatriated two killed and several wounded in "explosions and gunfire" in Iran in mid-October, adding it was still investigating the deaths after calls for a probe from the UN and rights groups.

The announcement comes weeks after the Taliban authorities said they formed a committee to investigate reports that dozens of Afghan migrants had been killed and wounded crossing into Iran.

"Based on the collected evidence, explosions and gunfire have targeted Afghan nationals within the Kalgan Valley, situated in Iranian territory," said Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy government spokesman, in a statement.

"Presently, the bodies of two martyrs, along with 34 eyewitnesses, some of whom sustained injuries during the incident, have been repatriated," he said, adding that efforts were ongoing to find and repatriate other Afghans still in Pakistan and Iran.

An Afghan medical source told AFP on condition of anonymity that doctors had been sent to the southwestern-most frontier to receive the wounded.

"Some of the migrants wounded by the Iranian security forces were in the custody of the Pakistani army for a time before being repatriated to Afghanistan," the source said.

In mid-October, Haalvsh, a group focused on defending the rights of the Baluch minority in Iran, reported that dozens of Afghan migrants had been killed or wounded by Iranian forces while trying to enter Iran from Pakistan on October 13.

Afghan migrants often leave their country via Nimroz province, bordering Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan, where the Kalgan Valley is located, and Pakistan's Balochistan.

They are most commonly seeking to enter one of the two neighbouring countries, or pass through Pakistan to reach Iran, which is home to one of the world's largest refugee populations, mainly Afghans.

Iran has not reported any recent violence on its border.

The Iranian special representative for Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Ghomi, wrote recently on X that "reports of the deaths of dozens of illegal migrants at the Saravan (county) border are untrue".

The United Nations and Amnesty International had called for an investigation after Haalvsh accused Iranian forces of opening fire on a group of Afghans trying to cross the border.

The flow of Afghan immigrants has increased since the Taliban took over in August 2021.

Reports in September said Iran's military has built a wall along more than 10 kilometres (6 miles) of its more than 900-kilometre border with Afghanistan in a bid to stem migration.

Iranian authorities have consistently denied mistreating Afghans in Iran.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his government plans to "repatriate illegal nationals to their country in a respectful manner".