Afghanistan repatriates two killed in Iran ‘explosions and gunfire’

KABUL: Afghanistan´s Taliban government said on Thursday it had repatriated two killed and several wounded in “explosions and gunfire” in Iran in mid-October, adding it was still investigating the deaths after calls for a probe from the UN and rights groups.

The announcement comes weeks after the Taliban authorities said they formed a committee to investigate reports that dozens of Afghan migrants had been killed and wounded crossing into Iran.

“Based on the collected evidence, explosions and gunfire have targeted Afghan nationals within the Kalgan Valley, situated in Iranian territory,” said Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy government spokesman, in a statement.

“Presently, the bodies of two martyrs, along with 34 eyewitnesses, some of whom sustained injuries during the incident, have been repatriated,” he said, adding that efforts were ongoing to find and repatriate other Afghans still in Pakistan and Iran.

An Afghan medical source told AFP on condition of anonymity that doctors had been sent to the southwestern-most frontier to receive the wounded.“Some of the migrants wounded by the Iranian security forces were in the custody of the Pakistani army for a time before being repatriated to Afghanistan,” the source said.