At least ten Afghan nationals were shot dead by Iranian border guards while attempting to cross into Iran, Afghan authorities said on Tuesday, marking one of the deadliest recent incidents along the tense frontier.
Mohammad Nasim Badri, spokesperson for the security command in Afghanistan’s western Farah province, told the state-run Hurriyat Radio that the men were killed late on Monday after entering Iranian territory through the Sheikh Abu Nasr Farahi border point “in search of work.” He said the victims were all residents of Farah and had crossed illegally.
Badri added that two other Afghans who were part of the same group remain missing, and that an investigation has begun. Iranian authorities have not yet commented.
The shooting comes amid growing friction along the Iran-Afghanistan border, where Tehran has, over the past year, forcibly returned hundreds of Afghan refugees fleeing instability and economic collapse.
