The incident took place in Sistan province where the refugees were killed. -Reports
Iranian forces are ignorant while the Afghan people showed a harsh reaction
PESHAWAR
GHAG Report
The brutal killing of more than 250 Afghans in Iran’s Sistan province has drawn a strong reaction from Afghan leaders and the public, but Iranian forces have so far maintained a policy of neutrality. On the other hand, Afghan circles say that hundreds of these people were mercilessly martyred by Iranian border forces during an operation when they were crossing the Iranian border in search of refuge in the form of a convoy and going to Iran as refugees.
Unconfirmed reports put the number of Afghans killed at between 270 and 300, including children and women. So far, the Iranian government has not provided any details of the incident, neither confirming nor denying the Afghan people’s accusation that forces or government institutions were involved in the massacre.
Some sources have alleged that hundreds of civilians may have been targeted by a terrorist group that has been carrying out such attacks in some border areas of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, but there has been no confirmation or denial of this claim.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s Pashtun nationalists, as well as several former Afghan ministers, diplomats and public spheres have reacted strongly to the incident, calling on Afghanistan’s interim government to seek an explanation from Iran. It may be recalled that in the past, there have been similar incidents of killing a large number of Afghan refugees in different border areas of Iran.
Former U. S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad called the incident “deeply regrettable” and wrote on his “X” account that Iran should immediately provide details and an explanation of the incident.