Iranian Border Guards Fatally Shoot 10 Afghan Migrants, Highlighting Escalating Border Crisis

At least ten Afghan migrants were shot dead by Iranian border guards while attempting to cross the frontier illegally, Taliban officials confirmed on Tuesday, in the latest deadly incident underscoring the perilous conditions for those fleeing Afghanistan’s deepening humanitarian crisis.

The shooting occurred near the Sheikh Abu Nasr Farahi crossing in western Farah province, according to Mohammad Naseem Badri, a Taliban police spokesman. The victims, all residents of Farah, were part of a group attempting to enter Iran illegally when Iranian forces opened fire. Two other individuals from the same group are reportedly missing. Badri did not provide specifics on the exact timing of the incident.

This event is part of a persistent and grim pattern of violence along Iran’s eastern border. Human rights organizations have repeatedly documented the lethal use of force against Afghan migrants, who are often unarmed and driven by desperation. Most victims are undocumented workers seeking escape from widespread poverty, famine, and unemployment exacerbated by Taliban rule and international isolation.

Recent years have seen several high-casualty encounters:

• Last year, in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, guards reportedly opened fire on a large group of approximately 300 Afghans. Taliban officials later confirmed at least two deaths and multiple injuries among those returned to Afghanistan.

• In 2020, Iranian border forces were accused of torturing and forcing a group of Afghan migrants into the Harirud River in Herat’s Golran district. Officials from the former Afghan government stated that 18 migrants drowned.

Despite consistent condemnation from Afghan human rights groups, refugee advocates, and the United Nations, Tehran has consistently defended its border security measures. Iranian authorities argue they are confronting not only mass illegal crossings, but also entrenched drug smuggling networks and potential security threats. Iran, which hosts one of the world’s largest refugee populations, including an estimated 3-4 million Afghans, has recently intensified deportations, returning thousands weekly amid its own economic pressures.

The Taliban administration has not indicated whether it will lodge an official protest over this latest shooting. While Kabul and Tehran have historically engaged in dialogue concerning refugee safety, contentious water rights, and border management, underlying tensions frequently flare into public recriminations following such incidents.

Humanitarian agencies are raising urgent alarms that the situation is poised to worsen. With Pakistan accelerating its mass deportation campaign targeting hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans, and with no economic relief in sight within Afghanistan, more individuals are being forced to consider ever more dangerous migration routes. Iran remains a primary destination due to cultural ties and perceived work opportunities, but the journey is increasingly lethal.

“This tragedy is a predictable outcome of cascading crises,” said a regional director for the International Rescue Committee, speaking on condition of anonymity due to operational sensitivities. “As avenues for legal migration vanish and desperation deepens, people are pushed toward treacherous paths. We fear a significant increase in border deaths unless concerted international action addresses both the root causes of flight and the protection of civilians along transit routes.”

The incident highlights a growing regional humanitarian emergency, with vulnerable populations caught between the Taliban’s governance failures, the harsh border enforcement policies of neighboring states, and a lack of sufficient international coordination and aid.

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