The bodies of 18 Afghans were found in a river near the Iranian border

According to Afghan officials, the bodies of 18 Afghan migrants who were allegedly tortured and thrown into the river by Iranian border guards last week have been recovered from a river in the western province of Herat.

According to the French news agency AFP, Afghan authorities are investigating claims that the migrants drowned while crossing the Iranian border illegally.

"The bodies of 18 of the 55 Afghan migrants who were forced to jump into the river have been recovered," said Abdul Ghani Nouri, governor of the Afghan Gulran district bordering Iran.



Six migrants are still missing, while others have survived, he said.

He also said there were "signs of torture and beatings" on the bodies.

Surviving eyewitnesses and the marks on the bodies of those killed show that they were first beaten by Iranian guards with wires and then forced to jump into the river at gunpoint, Ghani said.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that an investigation had been launched into the matter, while an official at the Afghan presidential palace said preliminary information showed that at least 70 Afghans had crossed the border into Herat province. Trying to enter Iran, they were tortured and thrown into the Hari River.



However, the Iranian consulate in Herat denied the allegations. The Iranian consulate said in a statement that Iranian border guards had not arrested any Afghan nationals.

Officials at the Iranian embassy in Kabul were not immediately available for comment.