Iran Coercing Refugees Into Militias For Syrian War

The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report Friday accusing Iran of using the threat of deportation and arrest to coerce thousands of Afghan migrants to join militias bound for the battlefields of Syria and Iraq, belying Iranian claims that the Afghans are volunteering to join Iranian-organized militias. The report came as another tension point in the region threatened to boil over, as Turkish officials lashed out at Russia for what they said was another violation of their airspace by Russian aircraft fighting in neighboring Syria. “We regard this infringement which came despite all our warnings in Russian and in English as an effort by Russia to escalate the crisis in the region,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters. “If Russia continues the violations of Turkey’s sovereign rights, it will be forced to endure the consequences.” Read More >>