Herat residents hold protest at Iranian consulate

HERAT (TOLO News): A group of activists and residents held a protest outside the Iranian consulate in Herat on Monday, calling for the punishment of those who were involved in the drowning of Afghan migrants in the border areas with Iran.

The protestors called on the Afghan government and international rights groups to make a committed investigation, chanting slogans of “justice, justice.”

“One of them was the breadwinner for a five-member family. He had gone to Iran in search of work. Iran should have expelled them; it should not have drowned them,” said Frogh, a relative of a victim and a protestor.

“The crimes that Iran has done to our countrymen have been done many times but I don’t know why they have not been investigated,” said Faisal Nayil, a protestor.

“We call on the international community and human rights organizations to follow this matter at the earliest opportunity,” said Shabnam Salahshor, a protestor.

Nasrullah, a Herat resident, says has he lost three members of his family in this incident – aged 23, 18 and 16 years old–who were breadwinners for their families.

“One of my nephews recently got married and another was about to be engaged. They had gone to Iran to earn money for the wedding,” said Nasrullah.

A similar protest was held in front of Iranian embassy in Kabul on Monday, where the protestors called for serious investigation.

The Afghan government probe team sent from Kabul to Herat on Sunday visited the Dahana-e-Zolfaqar area where the incident occurred. The team is documenting the incident, according to the military investigator Abdul Hameed Tahmasabi, who is heading up the probe team.

“We have interviewed the involved (individuals) in Herat, and we are joined by investigative authorities, the border police and the probe team,” he said.

More than 50 Afghan nationals were allegedly tortured and drowned in a river on the border with Iran earlier this month. The authorities have reported that 34 bodies have been found so far.