KABUL, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Amid the ongoing Israel-Iran war, the number of Afghan refugees leaving the neighboring country has sharply increased as nearly 10,000 refugees have returned to their homeland every day.
Islam Qala Border, the crossing point linking the western Herat province of Afghanistan to Iran, has witnessed an unprecedented rise in the number of Afghan refugees entering their homeland since the start of Israeli attacks on Iran on June 13, officials said.
"Recently, due to war and insecurity in Iran, the return of refugees from the country has increased. Between 8,000 and 10,000 individuals are returning daily via the Islam Qala border," the local media Tolonews quoted Abdul Rahim Rahmani, deputy director of Border Affairs for Returnees and Refugees at the Islam Qala crossing point, as saying.
The figure excluded those returning with passports and legal documents, the official said.
To handle the issue, a committee has been set up in the western Herat city, provincial government spokesman Mufti Mohammad Yusuf Sayedi said on Sunday.
Composed of representatives of government departments and the private sector, the committee has been tasked to tackle the issue and provide the returnees with basic needs including shelter, food and job opportunities, the official added.
Afghan refugees living in Iran have experienced a variety of difficulties such as unemployment and insecurity since the outbreak of the Israel-Iran war, forcing them to leave the host country.
"I had no peace over the past week as Israel targeted each point of Tehran. One day, I was working, an Israeli strike hit our place and I was terrified. I came home and decided to return to Afghanistan," Wakil Ahmad, an Afghan national who had been living in Iran for 10 years, told Xinhua.
At least one Afghan national, Abdul Wali, has reportedly been killed and some others injured during Israeli raids on Iran over the past 10 days.
Another Afghan refugee, Hamid, who has been living on the outskirts of Tehran, said that he and scores of fellow Afghans have remained indoors to escape unhurt since the start of the war.
Some 6 million Afghan refugees have been living in Iran, according to reports.
As part of efforts to protect Afghan refugees living in Iran, the Afghan interim government, besides keeping in touch with the Iranian side, also urged Afghan refugees to stay away from sensitive areas, political gatherings and making irresponsible comments on the developments. ■
