‘Afghan children recruited by Iran to fight in Syria’

KABUL: Iran has been recruiting Afghan children to fight alongside government forces in the Syrian conflict, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published yesterday.

Children as young as 14 are being recruited by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps to fight in the Fatemiyoun division, an exclusively Afghan unit, HRW charged.

The watchdog said it has identified at least eight graves belonging to Afghan children in Iran who fought and died in Syria.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for HRW, said Iranian authorities should “hold those responsible for recruiting Afghan children to account” and should immediately end the process instead of preying on “vulnerable immigrant and refugee children”.

The report cites Iranian media as saying at least six other Afghan children were reported to have been killed while fighting alongside the 14,000-strong division in Syria.

Although their tombstones say those who died were aged 18, their families told media that the children lied about their age to be able to join the division.

Under international law, recruiting children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities is a war crime.

According to the report, Iran lures vulnerable Afghan immigrants by offering citizenship to families of foreign fighters “who die, become injured or are taken captive”.

Afghanistan has one of the largest immigrant populations in the world.

Some 2.5 million documented and undocumented Afghan refugees reside in Iran. – dpa