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<p><a href="/en/afganistan/kabul" class="glossify-link">KABUL</a> (Pajhwok): At least 16 Afghan refugees have died as a result of the coronavirus pandemic in neighbouring Iran, says the government.</p>
<p>About 1,600 people have so far been killed and thousands of others infected with the virus in Iran.</p>
<p>A spokesman for the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRRk) told Pajhwok Afghan News about 16 Afghan nationals had been killed as a result of the virus in Iran.</p>
<p>Abdul Basit Ansari, however, did not provide the number of the Iran-based Afghan refugees infected with the virus.</p>
<p>Abdul GhafoorLewal, the Afghan ambassador in Tehran, complained the government of Iran did not share information about the affected refugees with the embassy.</p>
<p>He said they had so far received information regarding only 14 Afghans who had died due to the virus. Nobody had provided them specific figures, he added.</p>
<p>Earlier, Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Syed Alami Balkhi told the <a href="/en/wolesi-jirga" class="glossify-link">Wolesi Jirga</a> that Afghan refugees were buried in quarantine.</p>
<p>Herat inhabitants say about 10,000 Afghan refugees return home from Iran on a daily basis. Around 44 Afghans are said to have been infected with the coronavirus -- most of them returning from Iran.</p>
<p>sa/mud</p>
