Probe into claims ‘Afghan migrants forced into river’ by Iranian guards
US military warns of ‘responses’ if Taleban violence continues
HERAT: The Afghan government said it has launched an investigation into claims that migrants attempting to enter Iran drowned after being forced into a river by Iranian border guards. Dozens of Afghans had crossed into Iran illegally from western Herat province when the incident happened on Friday, local media said. The Afghan Human Rights Commission on Sunday said it had spoken to survivors who accused Iranian forces of beating and torturing them.
“They were made to cross the Harirud river, as a result a number of them drowned and some survived,” it said in a statement. The Afghan government said Saturday that the foreign ministry was investigating the incident. A government official who did not want to be named said seven migrants had died and 30 were still missing, according to survivors who returned to Herat. The Iranian consulate in Herat dismissed the reports and said no Afghan nationals had been arrested in the area.
The Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday that “the incident occurred on Afghanistan’s soil and Iran’s border patrol has denied anything related to this happened on our country’s territory”. “We have investigated this in cooperation with (Afghanistan’s) authorities,” the statement added. There are between 1.5 million and three million Afghan refugees living and working in Iran, most of them as wage laborers on construction projects. Tens of thousands returned to Afghanistan after the coronavirus outbreak, but as restrictions ease in badly-hit Iran, many are again seeking work there.
Taleban violence
In another development, the US military in Afghanistan has urged warring parties to “return to the political path” in a rare open letter to the Taleban as a surge in violence risks shattering a hoped-for peace process. In a twopage letter to the Taleban, US ForcesAfghanistan spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett said “all sides” must show restraint to prevent further bloodshed.
“If the violence cannot be reduced then yes, there will be responses”, Leggett wrote in a letter to Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. “All sides must also return to the political path... Afghans should sit down now and begin talking about the future of Afghanistan together.” The letter came after General Scott Miller, who leads US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, on April 28 warned the Taleban of potential consequences to continued violence.
Under the terms of a US-Taleban deal signed February 29, the Taleban committed to stop striking US and foreign partner troops, and agreed to start peace talks with the Kabul administration following an exchange of prisoners. In return, the US and other
Iran’s forces
accused of torturing
migrants
foreign troops will leave Afghanistan within 14 months of the deal signing. The US agreed not to attack the Taleban, though it has reserved the right to hit them to support Afghan forces if they come under attack. The Taleban also verbally committed to reduce violence by as much as 80 percent, Leggett said, and to halt attacks on urban areas.
Instead, there has been a “drastic increase” in violence, he noted. While the Taleban have refrained from hitting coalition forces and cities, they returned to the battlefield the moment the deal was signed and have been unleashing an average of 55 attacks a day on Afghan forces, according to Afghan officials. — Agencies