Iranian border guards opened fire on a group of Afghan migrants crossing into Sistan-Baluchestan province, killing six people and wounding five others, the Baluch rights group Haalvsh reported on Tuesday.
Haalvsh, which monitors events in the southeastern province, said around 120 Afghan nationals, including women, children and elderly people, came under fire on September 8 in the border district of Golshan.
The group said Iranian forces used both heavy and light weapons, including a DShK heavy machine gun, without issuing a warning.
According to Haalvsh, the bodies of five of the dead were left at the scene, and one of the wounded lost a leg after being hit by heavy gunfire. It also released the names of those hospitalized in Saravan, adding that the condition of three was critical.
The rights group said about 40 others were detained by border forces.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) described the shooting as “a violation of fundamental human rights,” citing the direct fire on unarmed migrants, including women and children, and the use of heavy weapons. HRANA said the failure to provide timely medical treatment and the collective arrests also breached international law.
Haalvshadded that similar incidents have occurred before. In October 2024, Iranian border forces fired on groups of Afghan migrants, leaving dozens dead, injured or missing.
According to HRANA’s annual monitoring, 484 civilians in Iran were shot by security forces in 2024, with 163 killed and 321 wounded.
The reported incident comes amid an intensified crackdown on Afghan migrants in Iran. Late in August, an Interior Ministry official said Tehran expelled 1.8 million undocumented migrants in the past year, most of them Afghans, and intends to remove at least 800,000 more under a government plan.
The United Nations has warned of a looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as deportations accelerate. UN experts urged Iran and Pakistan in July to halt forced returns, saying nearly 1.9 million Afghans had been sent back since the start of 2025.
Iran hosts millions of Afghan nationals, many of whom fled decades of war and instability.
