By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
December 10, 2025
For decades, millions of Afghans fleeing war, persecution, and poverty have sought refuge in neighboring Iran.
But crossing the 921-kilometer-long border has become increasingly dangerous for many Afghans as the Iranian authorities violently crack down on illegal migrants.
At least 10 Afghans were shot dead by Iranian border guards on December 1, according to Taliban officials, after they entered Iran illegally from western Afghanistan’s Farah Province.
It’s the latest in a growing number of deadly incidents where Afghan refugees and migrants have been shot and killed after crossing into Iran.
‘Dead Bodies’
The bodies of the slain Afghans were handed over to their families on December 2. Taliban officials said the 10 Afghans were killed while trying to cross the border during the night. Two members of the group are still missing, they said.
The deaths triggered angry protests in Herat, the largest city in western Afghanistan. Protestors, some of whom knew the victims, said they were young men who were seeking jobs in Iran to provide for their impoverished families back home.
Noor Ahmad Islamjar, the Taliban’s governor for Herat, told local media that “protecting human life at border areas is a fundamental principle of good neighborly relations.”
Islamjar said the killings on the Iranian border “have sparked public outrage and are a serious concern” for the Taliban government and urged Tehran to “conduct a transparent and comprehensive investigation.”
Iranian officials have not commented on the incident.
Sayed Suleiman Agha Bahir, the Taliban’s deputy governor in the neighboring southwestern province of Nimroz, said that the bodies of over 100 Afghans killed while crossing Iran have been handed over to them in recent months.
“On some days we receive up to five dead bodies,” he told local media last week.
History Of Violence
The shootings on December 1 were not an isolated incident.
In November, seven Afghans were shot dead by border guards near the Iranian city of Saravan, according to the human rights group Haalvsh.
It also reported the killing of at least six Afghans, including children, in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan Province, which borders Afghanistan, in September.
In October 2024, the United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan called for an investigation into reports that dozens of Afghan migrants had been shot and killed on the Afghanistan-Iran border.
The shootings highlight the risks Afghans are willing to take to escape poverty and the dire economic situation in their country.
The Taliban’s seizure of power in 2021 worsened one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Without international development assistance, the Afghan economy has further shrunk as joblessness and poverty rise. Meanwhile, the hard-line Islamist group has committed gross human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings and torture, leading to an exodus to neighboring countries.
The rugged and desolate Iranian border — used by drug traffickers and human smugglers — has long been dangerous. But the rising number of Afghans killed illegally crossing the border have coincided with Iran’s renewed push to deport millions of Afghan refugees and migrants.
In the first eight months of the year, Tehran deported 1.1 million Afghans, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. That’s in addition to the around 1 million Afghans who were evicted from the country last year.
Iran has set a deadline until the end of the year for all undocumented Afghans to leave the country. UNHCR estimates that some 4 million Afghans, most of them undocumented, live in Iran.
Maher Mohmand, an Afghan human rights activist, said people are “leaving Afghanistan because of hunger and because of poverty.”
He said that international humanitarian conventions require Tehran to care for all Afghans arriving on its territory. “Instead of killing them, [Iran should] provide them with [economic] opportunities,” Mohmand added.
Amu: Jamiat-e-Islami, led by Salahuddin Rabbani, said on Wednesday it had withdrawn from the National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan, a day after three major political movements announced what they described as a unified political voice. In a statement, Jamiat-e-Islami criticised Tuesday’s online gathering — attended by dozens of prominent political figures — as another example of “seasonal, tactical and fragile coalitions,” saying such alliances had repeatedly failed in the past. The National Resistance Council was one of the three main groups behind Tuesday’s declaration of “alignment and shared voice.” Formed in 2022, the council includes senior political figures such as Yunus Qanuni, Atta Mohammad Noor and Mohammad Ismail Khan. 
Ariana: In the 31st match of the fifth season of the Afghanistan Champions League, Arman FC delivered a dominant performance, defeating Istiqlal Kabul with a convincing 3–0 victory. In Wednesday’s 32nd fixture, Sarsabz Yashlar also impressed, overcoming Ettifaq Khanzadah with a solid 4–1 win and securing another valuable three points. The competition continues tomorrow (Thursday) with two more clashes. 
Amu: Two explosions struck a Taliban base in Afghanistan’s central Panjshir province on Monday night, killing at least eight Taliban members, multiple local sources told Amu, in one of the deadliest reported attacks in the area in recent months. The blasts occurred around 7:40 p.m. in the Manjinsto area of Abdullah Khil valley, where the Taliban maintain a central outpost, the sources said. Independent confirmation of the casualty toll was not immediately available, and Taliban authorities have not commented. 
Afghanistan International: Abdullah Qarluq, spokesperson for the National Resistance Council for Salvation of Afghanistan, says three major political movements opposing the Taliban have reached an agreement and are speaking with a unified voice to address the current crisis. According to him, the National Resistance Council for Salvation of Afghanistan, the National Assembly for Salvation and the Afghanistan National Movement for Peace and Justice will issue a joint statement. 
8am: The Taliban started replacing their Tajik-origin fighters with Pashtun-origin ones after militants from the group killed five Chinese citizens in Tajikistan. Sources reveal that the group decided to transfer and disarm some Tajik-origin fighters. At the same time, they stripped local Taliban members of duties like collecting mine revenues and distributing land for extraction. Instead, they assigned these tasks to outsiders, especially those tied to the Kandahari Taliban. Sources explain that two days ago, a Taliban delegation and 120 members of Unit 01 headed to Badakhshan’s Darwaz district. They aimed to arrest Juma Fateh, a local Taliban official there. But he skipped the meeting and fled the area. Sources spotted some of these fighters in Sheghnan, heading back to Fayzabad. Still, no one knows exactly how many non-local Taliban fighters linger in the Darwaz region. These sources predict that leaders will soon oust Fasihuddin Fetrat, the Taliban army chief of staff. They point out rising anxiety among the Badakhshan Taliban. The disarmament of locals and the shift in mine revenue control fuel the deepest worries about these changes. 
Khaama: Arrests of Afghans living in the United States have sharply increased in recent days, according to immigration lawyers and advocacy groups, following the shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan national in late November. ABC News reported today that the uptick has created widespread fear among Afghan communities across several states. The Associated Press earlier noted that roughly two dozen Afghans have been detained in the past week, with most arrests taking place in Northern California, home to one of the country’s largest Afghan populations. Many detainees were called into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices for routine check-ins before being taken into custody.