Local officials in Nimruz province said that in less than six months "nearly 100 Afghan refugees have been shot dead by Iranian security forces" and their bodies transferred to Afghanistan. According to the officials, Afghan citizens who wanted to enter Iran illegally "were shot by the Iranian military."
There have been reports from Afghan hospitals about killings and many cases of injury: “According to relatives of the patients, the sick and wounded people were beaten on the border when they wanted to cross the border into Iran,” said Jailani Sharifi, nursing director of Nimruz Hospital.
Residents of Herat and Nimruz called for an investigation.
“The dignity of Afghans must be preserved and not disrespected. They should deport them with dignity,” said Bismillah Sirat, a resident of Nimruz.
“Afghans are not seen as human beings and are being oppressed,” said Abdul Hakim, a resident of Nimruz.
The dead body of 16-year-old Sohrab just arrived in Herat from Iran.
According to the teenager's relatives, he was shot and killed by Iranian soldiers in Isfahan. Sohrab had gone to Iran illegally to find work.
“Sohrab jan wanted to go to Iran to work there, he told me 'I am going to Iran to help my father here in Afghanistan,'” said Mirwais, a relative of Sohrab.
“Sohrab went to Iran once ten days ago, but he was deported from the border, the second time he reached Isfahan,” said Mustafa, Sohrab’s relatives.
Some sources in Herat said that several bullet-riddled bodies have entered the province in recent months from the border of Islam Qala. According to officials from the Herat Department of Refugees and Repatriations, in the past six months, over 460 wounded who have been beaten have entered Afghanistan from Iran through the Islam Qala border.
“There are people who have been beaten, their arms and legs have been broken,” said Mawlawi Abdulhai Manib, head of the Refugees and Repatriation Department of Herat.
Despite several requests, the Iranian consulate in Herat and the Iranian embassy in Kabul refused to comment.