PhotoBEIRUT, Lebanon — Afghan immigrant children as young as 14 are being recruited in Iran to fight — and die — in Syria, a prominent human rights organization said Sunday. The Human Rights Watch report demonstrates that Afghan fighters younger than 18 have died in Syria, and it sheds new light on the recruitment of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria, where Iran backs the Syrian government in a multisided war. Human rights groups have long expressed concern that vulnerable Afghan refugees are being pressured by the Iranian authorities to fight in Syria. More graves for teenage fighters are believed to exist, Human Rights Watch says, citing reports of fighters’ deaths in the Iranian news media. The Iranian Interior Ministry estimated in 2015 that 2.5 million Afghans lived in Iran, but many do not possess residency permits.

Source: New York Times October 01, 2017 11:15 UTC