KABUL: Afghanistan has called on Iran to stop sending Afghan refugees as mercenaries of its proxy war in Syria, after it was revealed that more than 2,000 Afghan combatants had been killed in the war so far.
“The Afghan government opposes any kind of proxy war. As we dismiss proxy war in Afghanistan, we announce our opposition to proxy war in other countries as well,” Shah Hussien Murtazawi, chief spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, told Arab News.
“The blood of this country’s sons should not be spilt to further the goals and expansionist designs of a few countries ... Afghan sentiments and vulnerabilities should not be exploited for their (Iran’s) goals and objectives.”
In a rare confession, an Afghan official with the “Fatemiyoun Brigade,” which is composed of Afghan Shiites recruited in Iran, at the weekend said that more than 2,000 Iranian-trained members of the force had lost their lives in support of Bashar Assad’s regime.
The official, Zohair Mojahed, who was quoted initially by Iranian media and later became a source for Afghan press too, said that more than 8,000 Afghans had been wounded during Syria’s five-year war.
Afghanistan, which has been locked in four decades of war and foreign interventions, said Iran needed to stop the practice.
Iran has not denied sending Afghan Shiites to war in Syria and Iraq. More than a million Afghan nationals, displaced by their country’s long war, have been living in Iran for decades.
To lure the Afghan refugees, Tehran has offered a series of concessions, such as accommodation, long-term stays in Iran and monetary concessions, in return for taking part in its war in the Middle East, according to former Afghan combatants.
Analyst Matiullah Kharoti said that Iran had used Afghan refugees to fight in its war against Iraq in the 1980s and in its current conflict in the Middle East by offering them incentives. “They are not fighting a sectarian war in the Middle East, but Iran is exploiting their desperation and poverty,” Kharoti told Arab News.
Murtazawi said Kabul was aware of the issue and was addressing it. It was hoping to see a result from its push to end the sending of Afghan refugees living in Iran. “We are in contact through various channels with the neighboring country (Iran) so that this matter is pursued. Talks are underway to get a conclusive outcome,” Murtazawi said.
Afghanistan urges Iran to halt use of its nationals as mercenaries in Syria
Afghanistan urges Iran to halt use of its nationals as mercenaries in Syria
Iran launches missiles at Israel as attacks in Middle East commence for a sixth day
- IRGC: Strikes against Iran would result in “the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure”
- Drones and missiles intercepted in different countries, including Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, after IRGC warning
DUBAI: Iran launched missiles at Israel early Thursday as aerial attacks in the Middle East commenced for a sixth day after an American submarine sank an Iranian warship and Iran threatened the destruction of military and economic infrastructure across the region.
Israel announced the incoming attack shortly after its military said it had begun new strikes in Lebanon targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The fighting continued after the US and Israel intensified their bombardment Wednesday of Iran’s security forces and other symbols of power.
The tempo of the strikes on Iran was so intense that state television announced the mourning ceremony for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the conflict, would be postponed. Millions attended the funeral of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989.
The US and Israel launched the war Saturday, targeting Iran’s leadership, missile arsenal and nuclear program while suggesting that toppling the government is a goal. But the exact aims and timelines have repeatedly shifted, signaling an open-ended conflict.
President Donald Trump praised the US military Wednesday for “doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly.” Fellow Republicans in the US Senate stood with Trump on Iran as they voted down a resolution seeking to halt the war.
Iran fired on Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel as the conflict spiraled. Turkiye said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkiye’s airspace.
The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, more than 70 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. It has disrupted the supply of the world’s oil and gas, snarled international shipping and stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers in the Middle East.
Buildings of Iranian military and security forces targeted
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a torpedo from an American submarine sank an Iranian warship Tuesday night in the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lankan authorities said 32 people were rescued from the ship, while the country’s navy said it recovered 87 bodies.
Israel said it hit buildings associated with Iran’s Basij, the all-volunteer force of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard whose bloody crackdown on protesters in January left thousands dead.
The Israeli military hit buildings associated with Iran’s internal security command. Israel and the US have said they want to see Iranians overthrow the country’s theocracy, and strikes against Iran’s internal security forces may be aimed at hastening that.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said his country’s forces have decentralized leadership, with units acting largely on their own, which could blunt the effect of attacks on top command and control hubs.
Iranian state television showed the ruins of buildings in Tehran and interviews with people saying the attacks damaged their homes. Strikes were also reported in the city of Qom targeting a building associated with a clerical panel set to pick Iran’s next supreme leader. Iranian media said it was empty at the time.
Shifting timelines for US operations
During his Pentagon briefing, Hegseth did not give a definitive timeline for US operations.
“You can say four weeks, but it could be six. It could be eight. It could be three,” he said. “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, said American forces have damaged Iran’s air defenses and taken out ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.
US and Israeli military officials say launches from Iran have declined as the war has progressed. Israel’s Homefront Command announced it was easing restrictions that closed workplaces nationwide. It said workplaces could reopen Thursday if there’s a shelter nearby. Schools would remain closed.
Still, explosions sounded early Thursday in Israel, which said its defensive systems were moving to intercept Iranian missiles.
At least 1,045 people have been killed in Iran, the country’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday. Eleven people have died in Israel. Six US troops have been killed.
The death toll has exceeded 70 in Lebanon, where the health ministry said Wednesday that three people died when drone strikes hit two vehicles on a Beirut highway. The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hezbollah member.
Israel says its offensive had been planned for midyear
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the offensive against Iran was originally planned for mid-2026, but “the need arose to bring everything forward to February.”
He listed events inside Iran, Trump’s positions and the possibility of “creating a combined operation” as reasons.
The protests in Iran put unprecedented pressure on its leadership. Trump threatened military action in response to the crackdown before shifting his attention to Iran’s disputed nuclear program.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the US launched its operation partly out of concern Iran might strike American personnel and assets in the region first. A phone call between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the airstrikes began was also “important with respect to the timeline,” she said.
Energy supplies in the crosshairs
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard issued its most-intense threat yet, saying the strikes against it would result in “the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure.”
A Maltese-flagged container ship was attacked Wednesday while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped. The ship was hit by two missiles, sparking a fire, according to Malta’s transport minister, Chris Bonett. Its 24 crew members were rescued.
Tanker traffic through the strait has fallen by around 90 percent compared to prewar levels, shipping tracker MarineTraffic.com said Wednesday.
Oil prices have soared as Iranian attacks have disrupted traffic through the strait, and global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy.
Iran’s clerics are choosing a new supreme leader
Iran’s leaders are scrambling to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years. It’s only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new supreme leader is being chosen.
Potential candidates range from hard-liners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists who seek diplomatic engagement. Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son, has long been considered among them — though he has never been elected or appointed to a government position.
In a sign that Iran’s leadership will only seek to consolidate its power as it faces its biggest crisis in decades, the head of the judiciary warned that “those who cooperate with the enemy in any way will be considered an enemy.”
Israel’s defense minister, Katz, said on X that Iran’s next supreme leader — if he continues to threaten Israel, the US and others — “will be a target for elimination.”
