An Afghanistan family living in Dublin say they fear for their lives after a racially-motivated attack left three of them requiring hospital treatment.

Gardai are investigating the assault of Abdul Ahmadzai (13) and two of his uncles Naqib (18) and Fazal (20), which took place in Ballinteer in south Dublin on Thursday night.

The three were cycling home from the park when four men jumped out of a car and attacked them. Abdul was struck across the face with a metal bar, while his uncle Naqib suffered a broken cheekbone.

The attack took place along Nutgrove Way, close to Marlay Park where the three had been moments earlier.

Abdul said that his uncles, who spent two nights in hospital, have been in the country for just four months. They are now refusing to leave the family home in case they are attacked again.

The family say that none of the six children living in the house will be attending school for the rest of the term, with their parents talking about returning to Afghanistan because of threats they've received.

"They said that this was only a warning and that next time they will kill us," Abdul said.

"I can't sleep after it. Last night I was dreaming that those came into my house and tried to kill my family and when I woke up I couldn't sleep again."

Abdul, who is a first-year student at De La Salle Secondary School in Rathfarnham, has been living in Ireland for four years and is an Irish citizen.

He said he has never encountered any other problems since arriving here but feels he can not return to school in the area.

"They said: 'Why are you here, go back to your own country', and shouted the F word a lot. They hit me with the black metal bar in the head and I can't really remember what happened after that," he added.

Another family member, who has been living in Dublin for six years, said that he feels they have no option but to leave the country after the assault.

"If the warning is this, they want to hurt us and to beat us, so what will they do next? We are too scared," he said.

An anti-racism vigil in solidarity with the family takes place outside the Nugrove Shoppint Centre on Tuesday evening.

Gardaí are investigating the attack.

Irish Independent