KABUL (Khaama Press): The deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan says that Iran handed over 181 more Afghan prisoners to Taliban authorities.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad wrote on Twitter the Afghan prisoners were released after negotiations between the Taliban and Iranian officials. The prisoners were transferred to Afghanistan through the ‘Islamqala’ crossing point.
The decision comes as Afghanistan’s legal and judicial system has collapsed according to the United Nations.
The Islamic Emirate authorities have appreciated Iran and said that such positive steps can result in strengthening mutual cooperation between the two neighboring countries.
The number of Afghan prisoners in Iran has been announced 1728, however, the Taliban have not yet commented on what charges the inmates were imprisoned in Iran.
A Taliban delegation headed by the group’s Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai traveled to Tehran on March 6, and visited with Iranian officials, after which Iran handed over 268 Afghan detainees.
Furthermore, the Taliban on Monday and Tuesday announced that more than 450 Afghan inmates were returned to Afghanistan from Iran.
Following the handover of the Afghan Embassy in Tehran to the Taliban, many Afghans who had fled the country fearing persecution and death threats from the Taliban, now are concerned about their security. Some of them have said that now the Taliban can easily find their details, residential area, and workplace in Iran.
Over the past months, the Iranian government has taken serious measures to deal with undocumented Afghan refugees in the host country. They have been continuously incarcerating and forcefully deporting Afghan nationals to Afghanistan through Islamqala and Abrishum crossing points.
Iran maintains good ties with the de facto authorities of Afghanistan and is one of the few regional countries which officially handed over the Afghan Embassy to the Taliban diplomats in Iran.
181 Afghan prisoners extradited from Iran: Spokesperson MoFA
