HERAT - Residents of Kohsan, Ghoryan and Gulran districts, bordering with Iran, staged a demonstration in Herat city yesterday to condemn the fatal shooting by Iranian forces of 13 Afghans accused of smuggling drugs, according to the local media.

Protestors urged the Government of Afghanistan to investigate the shooting and the Iranian authorities to send the dead bodies from Iran to Afghanistan.

They warned that inaction may have negative consequences for Iranians in Herat, reported the local Radio Mozhdeh station.

The radio station quoted a demonstrator by the name of Gul Khan, who was speaking on behalf of the victims, said the Afghans were buried in a cemetery in Tibar area in Iran after they were killed by Iranian security forces two months ago.

Mr. Khan also claimed that all the deceased were teenager Afghan boys and had gone to Iran for work purposes and were not the drug smugglers as alleged by Iran.

A spokesperson in the Herat Provincial Governor’s Office, Mohiuddin Noori told the Radio Mozhdeh that they would share the issue with the Iranian Government seeking the handover of the dead bodies to Afghanistan.