Senate slams Iranian guards’ fire at Afghans

KABUL over a recent shooting incident at the border that killed and wounded several Afghans.

Nearly 300 Afghans wanted to illegally enter Iran for work but Iranian border police fired at them, killing many and injuring several of them. Another 150 have been missing, said the administrative head of the Jawin district in western Farah province.

A senator from the province, Gul Ahmad Azimi, said 10 people were killed and as many others wounded in the incident. “We consider it a brazen crime, so the government should summon the Iranian ambassador on the issue,” he told the Senate.

Another senator, Khaliqdad Balaghi, who walked out of the session, said he would continue to stay away from house proceedings as long as the government did not seek from Iran reasons for the casualties.

Chairman Fazal Hadi Muslimyar tasked the Senate Commission on International Relations with discussing the issue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and presenting its report to the Meshrano Jirga.

However, the Iranian embassy in Kabul said it had been saddened by the incident. However, the embassy had not been formally informed about the shooting by the Iranian government, it said in a statement.

The statement stressed strict controls on both sides of the border to prevent the illegal movement.

“It is difficult to differentiate between terrorists, smugglers and illegal migrants at night and more than 5000 border guards have been killed in counterterrorism and counternarcotics drive,” the embassy argued.

myn/mud