A dozen young Afghans who tried to reach Europe in January told the BBC they were among a group of 50 migrants beaten and stripped by Turkish border guards before being stranded in the snow. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.

They say they were forced from the eastern Turkish city of Van towards the Iranian border, where temperatures were sub-zero. The group added that at least 20 people froze to death.

Eleven of the 12 men and boys who spoke to the BBC - including a 13-year-old - eventually lost limbs to frostbite. The group, all aged 25 or under, was eventually returned to Afghanistan.

One of the migrants, Shahsawar, says he regained consciousness in a Kabul hospital to discover both his hands and legs had been amputated. "I raised my hands - they felt light. Both had been cut off," he tells the BBC. "My throat closed up and I couldn't speak."

When approached for comment, Turkish authorities did not specifically address the migrants' allegations. But the foreign ministry said border forces followed national and international laws and provided detained undocumented migrants with all necessary assistance, including food, water and medical care.

In mid-January, around 50 undocumented Afghan migrants were arrested after people smugglers helped them cross the Iranian border into Van, where temperatures had dropped to -15C.

Shahsawar, 21, says he was detained immediately on entering the city. Turkish border guards then lined the migrants up and beat them, he says. "They kept us for several nights in a warehouse, where snow was falling on us. And they gave us only water and dry bread once a day." "They forced us to do hard labour," adds Alwaldin, 23. "We had to carry wood and clear snow."

The migrants who spoke to the BBC describe an exceptionally violent incident on 25 January when they say they were again lined up by border guards, but this time beaten with iron bars. Stripped of their clothes and with their hands tied, they were forced to crawl on their stomachs toward a hill, Alawaldin says. "Some people's heads were broken and blood was flowing over their shoulders."

With their clothes, shoes and socks removed - left with only a pair of trousers each - the Afghans were released in groups of eight and pushed through barbed wire towards Iran, he says. It was a stormy night, with heavy snowfall and almost no visibility. "The paths were covered in snow. And we didn't know which direction to go or whether we would survive."

One member of the group, a boy named Danial, got lost almost immediately. The migrants later learned his body had been found in the snow. Meanwhile, exhausted and hungry, Shahsawar says he had to take shelter by a large rock. He was soon joined by Asim, 13, and a fellow migrant called Ahmed, whose hands were frozen stiff. "In the morning, Asim moved on," Shahsawar says. "But we were so frozen that we couldn't even speak. Ahmad was lying in my arms. And after a while, I noticed that he had stopped breathing."

A video posted on social media the following month apparently shows Asim being found in the snow by other migrants who had been searching for their companions. The teenager is wet, frostbitten and poorly dressed. When his rescuers ask if he is alone, Asim, seemingly too cold to speak, points with his hand to the rock where Shahsawar was sheltering. Shahsawar says this simple gesture saved his life.