Ghani tasks team to probe deaths of Afghan migrants

Afghanistans President Ashraf Ghani has tasked a 10-member team to probe reports that said Afghan migrants were "abused, tortured and drowned" by Iranian border guards to prevent their illegal entry.

Mohammad Hamid Tahmasbi will lead the probe team, TOLO News quoted Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman to Ashraf Ghani, as saying on Friday.

According to the Foreign Ministry, initial assessments suggested that at least 70 Afghans who were trying to enter Iran from bordering Herat province were beaten and pushed into the Harirud river.

The Harirud river basin is shared by Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmenistan.

An Afghan official on Wednesday said that so far 16 of the Afghan nationals have been rescued, 18 to 20 were missing, and 16 bodies have been found.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he was "appalled" by the reports and called on the Afghan government to open a "full investigation".

But Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry rejected Pompeo's remarks, saying some people were trying to disrupt Kabul-Tehran ties by making conspiracies.

( With inputs from IANS )