Hundres of Afghans 'killed' in bid to enter Iran

Iranian border guards have reportedly killed dozens of Afghans in a massacre as they attempted to enter the country.

The Islamic Republic’s border forces ambushed and opened fire on a group of about 300 migrants trying to reach Iran on Sunday night, multiple media reports said.

 “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 directly fired bullets and rockets at migrants, according to Haalvsh.

The alleged massacre follows a crackdown by the Iranian regime on migrants fleeing the Taliban.

The Islamic Republic has said it hopes to achieve two million deportations by March next year.

 Survivors of the shooting reported out of the 300 Afghan migrants present, only about 60 to 70 were unhurt.

The rest were either killed or seriously injured.

“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.”

Videos purportedly showing the aftermath of the massacre show a harrowing scene at the border.

The Telegraph has chosen not to publish the videos, which show the bodies of a number of migrants lying motionless in the desert and their clothes stained with blood.

One video, shot at night, shows a man desperately attempting to stem blood flowing from a severely wounded companion.

With only a scarf at his disposal, he wraps it around the victim’s legs but the fabric quickly becomes saturated with the amount of blood pouring from the wounds.

“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.”

‘Crime against humanity’

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.

“A legal response to the illegal entry of unauthorised migrants is a legitimate right of countries, and border forces are obligated to prevent the entry of illegal nationals,” he added.