Iran denies sending Afghan fighters to Syria

Iran has dismissed "fabricated" reports about recruiting Afghan refugees to fight in Syria, saying such claims are propagandistic.

ISNA quoted an informed source at Iran’s Foreign Ministry as saying on Tuesday there is evidence that the Afghan nationals are fighting both for and against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The source added “However, no one can speak with certainty about the circumstances of Afghans presence on both sides of the Syrian front because the ISIL terrorists and other terrorist groups have recruited forces from different countries including Afghanistan in support of their allies in Syria and Iraq.”

According to concrete evidence, some Afghans have been living in Syria and some others have departed for Syria from Afghanistan through Iran, it said.

On January 19, Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has recruited thousands of undocumented Afghans living there to fight in Syria since at least November 2013.

Iran has sent military advisers to Syria to contribute to the Arab country’s fight against terrorists wreaking havoc in the conflict-stricken country.

The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has thus far claimed the lives of more than 260,000 people and left over one million injured, according to the United Nations.

ME