Iranian Official Calls "Unauthorised Afghan Nationals" As Border Aggressors

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has said that passport applicants in the country will be processed in three stages.

Tarar told the Pakistani House of Representatives on Thursday, October 17, that scanners and advanced devices will be used to improve the process of verifying the identities of individuals and prevent the issuance of fake Pakistani passports and ID cards to Afghans.

The Pakistani Information Minister added that the citizens of this country who want to get a Pakistani passport and national identity card should go through three steps.

Approval by a government official, family registration certificate, and re-verification of documents are the three steps that must be done, according to Ataullah Tarar.

According to Pakistani media reports, the forgery of documents, especially national identity cards and Pakistani passports, by Afghan immigrants is a serious issue in Pakistan, which has received attention in the last year after the start of the forced deportation of Afghans.

On August 29, the Pakistani government announced that it had revoked more than 6,000 illegal identity cards of Afghan immigrants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

In December last year, Geo News quoted its sources as saying that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had decided to collect more than 58,000 suspicious ID cards and revoke fake Afghans' cards.

He said that the area where the Afghan refugees were said to have been shot was a "security zone" and that migrants should not move around the area.

On Thursday, Mehdipour denied the shooting of immigrants in a programme on the social network X, saying that the "enemy" intends to divert public opinion by publishing news of the shooting of immigrants.

According to reports, Iranian border forces had opened fire on a group of migrants in the Kalgan-Saravan area, in Sistan and Baluchestan province on the border with Pakistan.

"Separatist groups have been using this area as a corridor for the killing of civilians for years," the Iranian official said.

'Taliban must respond'

Mehdipour said that unauthorised movement should not take place from this area and that Afghanistan and Pakistan should be held accountable.

Regarding the reason for the migration of Afghans to Iran, he said, "The Taliban must be held accountable for migration. The Taliban's policies against women and restrictions on citizens have led to migration," he said, adding, "The Islamic Republic is not accountable to immigrants. The Taliban must respond."

The Iranian official also criticised the statements of the former Afghan government officials for voicing condemnation about the killing of refugees.

Improving the economic situation, ensuring security and legitimate governance in Afghanistan will prevent the phenomenon of migration, he said. "People inside Afghanistan should feel that they can live in it," he said.

He says that the people of Afghanistan are suffering from unemployment.

The Taliban's Supreme Court wrote that it had punished these individuals on charges of sexual relations, forgery of documents, and bribery in public.

The Taliban's Supreme Court on Thursday, October 18, announced in separate statements the punishment of 14 people in Kabul and Khost province, writing that it had sentenced each of the seven individuals in Khost province with 35 lashes in public and sentenced each of them to one year in prison. The court said that it sentenced the eighth individual to 39 lashes and two years in prison.

The Taliban's Supreme Court earlier said that it had flogged six people, including two women, in Deh Sabz in Kabul on charges of extramarital affairs and same-sex relations. The court added that it sentenced the individuals to 39 lashes and to prison terms ranging from one year to one year and three months.

Despite the objections of international human rights organisations, the Taliban has continued to inflict corporal punishment and torture on defendants in public. The group's Supreme Court reports daily on public punishment of defendants across Afghanistan.

International human rights organisations have complained about the trial process of individuals by Taliban courts, criticising the defendants' lack of access to a lawyer and a fair trial.

The international human rights organisation also stressed on the need for independent, transparent and effective investigations into the matter.

In a statement on Thursday, October 17, Amnesty International described the report of the human rights organisation Halvash as "horrific" that "dozens" of Afghan migrants were killed and injured at the Iranian border.

The organisation also said that the shooting of migrants and the refusal to provide health care to the wounded were concerning.

Amnesty International has said that the perpetrators of the shooting of Afghan migrants should be held accountable in a fair trial.

About two years ago, Amnesty International documented the actions of Iranian security forces to kill and injure Afghan refugees after the fall of the Afghan government.

Iranian border forces in the Kalgan-Saravan area opened fire on Afghan migrants trying to enter Iran, killing and wounding dozens, the Halvash Human Rights Organisation reported on Wednesday (October 16).

A Taliban spokesperson said that Sadr Ibrahim, the group’s deputy interior minister, is heading the delegation and representatives of the ministries of defence, foreign affairs, borders and intelligence are members of it.

Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban's deputy spokesman, said in a statement that the group's prime minister had asked the delegation to present the results of its investigation into the killing of Afghan refugees on the Iranian border as soon as possible.

The Taliban probe was announced after an Iranian rights group, known as Halvash, initially reported the alleged Afghan casualties, saying they occurred Sunday in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan border province near Kolgan Saravan area.

The organisation quoted survivors as saying that about 300 Afghan migrants were attempting to unlawfully enter Iran in the Kolgan Saravan region when they were assaulted by Iranian border guards, resulting in deaths and injuries.

Kolgan Saravan region is in Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran and borders with Panjgur region of Balochistan province of Pakistan. Apparently, the Afghan refugees intended to enter Iran through Pakistan.

Along with human smugglers, Baloch rebels also use this route to travel, and the Panjgur area is one of the areas where Baloch rebels have a large presence.

This is not the first time that Iranian forces shot at Afghan refugees at the border. Earlier, Amnesty International said in a report that Afghan migrants who wanted to go to safe countries through Iran and Turkey were shot dead by Iranian and Turkish border forces.