KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Explosions and gunfire in Iran killed at least two Afghans earlier this month, the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said on Thursday.
Iran has denied any shooting took place near Saravan, a town in the country’s restive southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which borders Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
A high-ranking Taliban committee has been investigating the incident for the past few weeks.
Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the committee found that explosions and gunfire targeted Afghans in the Kalgan Valley, within Iranian territory. He did not say who was responsible for the attack.
“As of now, the bodies of two martyrs and 34 eyewitnesses, some of whom were injured in the incident, have been transported by the committee,” the spokesman said. “Some of the others who were injured remain in Iran and Pakistan and the committee is actively working to locate and transfer them (to Afghanistan).”
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The casualty figures are far lower than the ones given by HalVash, an advocacy group for the Baluch people that is broadly focused on Iran. It issued reports about the shooting, citing two unidentified witnesses and others as claiming a death toll of at least dozens, with more wounded.
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