Afghan Asylum Seekers Deported From Iran Killed By Taliban
According to findings by Afghanistan International, Afghan asylum seekers have faced arbitrary detention and targeted killings after being deported from Iran. An examination of multiple cases shows such incidents have occurred repeatedly. Families of those killed accuse the Taliban of murdering returned asylum seekers.
Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni told the country’s parliament on Monday, November 10, that “around 1.5 million people have left the country this year.” According to Momeni, about 70 percent departed voluntarily.
He added: “More than 1.4 million foreign nationals were officially handed over at the borders and returned to their home countries in the presence of a United Nations representative. Although the number of arrests and referrals was higher, these individuals were nevertheless returned in an official and registered manner.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, on Thursday, November 6, described the forced expulsion of Afghans from Iran and Pakistan as “alarming” during a session of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. Grandi said: “These actions have deprived many people of essential support and have returned them to unsafe environments.”
Former Police Officer Killed After Trusting Amnesty Promise
A former employee of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior, Kamin Khan, was killed on Saturday evening, October 25, in the Chashma Garmak area of Farkhar district, Takhar province.
Sources from Takhar province said several gunmen opened fire on Kamin Khan from a vehicle before fleeing the area.
Kamin Khan was killed on the evening of 25 October in Takhar province.
Kamin Khan had been deported from Iran about a year before the incident. Sources close to him told Afghanistan International: “On the day he was deported from Iran, I called him and advised him to stay in Iran, but he said conditions there had also become very difficult. He added that some Taliban officials in Takhar had assured him that there was a general amnesty and that he would not be arrested.”
According to the source, Kamin Khan returned to Takhar trusting the Taliban’s promise of a general amnesty. “However, the Taliban did not uphold that promise,” the source said.
After taking power in August 2021, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree announcing a “general amnesty.” At the time, the Taliban declared that all employees, soldiers and staff members of the former Afghan government were granted amnesty and would not be harassed or punished for their past cooperation with the previous government or foreign forces.
However, reports by the United Nations and several international organisations say there is substantial evidence indicating the Taliban have not adhered to the general amnesty decree. As a result, numerous cases of killings, enforced disappearances and torture of former government employees from the Islamic Republic era have been documented.
After returning from Iran, Kamin Khan worked in agriculture in Takhar province. Previously, he had served as a bodyguard for General Dawood Dawood, commander of the 303 Pamir Police Zone in northern Afghanistan.
The killing of Kamin Khan is not an isolated incident. About two weeks before his death, the body of a former soldier from the previous government, who had also been deported from Iran, was found in Farah province.
Family says former officer detained and later found dead
On Friday, October 3, the body of Gul Ahmad, a former police officer under Afghanistan’s previous republican government, was found in Farah city, the capital of Farah province.
Gul Ahmad’s family said he was taken away by individuals carrying Taliban intelligence identification cards. He remained missing for 110 days.
According to family members, three armed men carrying Taliban intelligence ID cards took him from Nang Ab village in Farah city at the time of his disappearance. From that day there was no information about his whereabouts.
Gul Ahmad’s body was found in Farah on 3ed October.
Gul Ahmad had served as a police officer in Farah province under the former republican government. His brother, Amir Arsalan, told Afghanistan International that Gul Ahmad had “surrendered” during the republican era, handed over his weapon to the Taliban and had been issued an amnesty card by the group.
The former government soldier had travelled to Iran several times for work before his killing. His most recent return to Afghanistan took place during the last month of Ramadan, in March 2025, after pressure on Afghan migrants in Iran intensified.
Amir Arsalan is calling on the Taliban’s intelligence department in Farah to answer questions about his brother’s killing. He said Taliban intelligence agents took his brother alive from their home and later returned his body to the family.
Gul Ahmad is survived by five children, three sons and two daughters. His family is demanding that Taliban intelligence authorities in Farah investigate the killing, but so far, the Taliban have not responded to their request.
Former Afghan Special Forces Officer Found Dead in Kabul
About a month before the body of Gul Ahmad was found in Farah, a similar incident occurred in the capital, Kabul.
The body of Abdul Wali Naeemi, a former officer of the Afghan special forces, was identified at the Kabul Forensic Medicine Department on September 1, 2025, after he had been missing for two weeks.
The body of Abdul Wali Naeemi was found in Kabul on 1 September 2025.
Naeemi, originally from Panjshir province, had returned to Kabul from Iran on August 15, 2025. Sources in Kabul told Afghanistan International that he went missing two days later, on August 17.
According to local sources, “his body showed gunshot wounds to the head and neck. His left arm was broken, and there were visible signs of torture on his body.”
Photos of Naeemi’s body received by Afghanistan International show injuries to his forehead and nose. Sources said the greenish colour of his hands suggested they had been tied behind his back during torture.
Abdul Wali Naeemi is survived by four children. About a month before his death, the body of another former government employee was found in Parwan province.
Another Former Afghan Security Officer Found Dead After Detention
On August 6, 2025, Fahim Jabali Qazizada, an officer with Parwan’s provincial special forces, was found dead at the provincial hospital, two days after he went missing on August 4.
A source close to Qazizada told Afghanistan International that during earlier detentions by the Taliban in Parwan, he attempted to flee to Iran three times out of fear of reprisals. Each time, however, he was forced to return to Afghanistan because of increasing pressure on Afghan refugees and deportations in Iran.
The body of Fahim Jabali Qazizada was found in Parwan on 6 August 2025.
The former military officer had travelled to a relative’s home in the Reg-e-Rawan area of Kapisa province in July 2025 but was detained on his way back. His body was later found at Parwan’s provincial hospital.
Qazizada was originally from Chahar Burj village in the Jabal al-Saraj district of Parwan province. He is survived by two children.
About 17 days before this incident, a former commander of the Junbish-e Islami Party was killed in Sar-e-Pul province.
Former Junbish Commander Killed a Day After Returning From Iran
Ezzatullah was killed in Sar-e-Pul province one day after returning from Iran, on July 19, 2025. He had returned to Afghanistan on July 18.
Ehsan Niru, a spokesperson for the Junbish-e Islami Party, told Afghanistan International that the former commander was killed on Saturday in Sar-e-Pul. According to Niru, after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, Ezzatullah sought refuge in Iran but was forced to return to his hometown after his visa expired.
Sources within the Junbish Party said Commander Ezzatullah, also known as “Commander Zil,” had served as one of the personal guards of party leader Abdul Rashid Dostum. The spokesperson said that, given the current situation in Afghanistan, Ezzatullah’s deportation from Iran raises serious questions about the security and treatment of party members after their return.
Ezzatullah was killed in Sar-e-Pul province on 19 July 2025.
Niru said the Junbish Party maintains good relations not only with Iran but also with all neighbouring countries. However, he added that given Iran’s understanding of the current situation in Afghanistan, the Iranian government is unlikely to hand over commanders to face death outside its borders.
Afghanistan International has documented not only the killings of Afghans expelled from Iran but also the arrests of other Afghans after their return to the country.
Detentions of Former Security Forces
Parwez Syedkhili and Farid Syedkhili
Sources told Afghanistan International that on September 6, 2025, the Taliban detained former government officers Farid Syedkhili and Parwez Syedkhili in Kabul for a second time.
Farid Syedkhili previously served as a brigade commander in the Afghan National Army in Baghlan province, while Parwez Syedkhili was a battalion commander. Both men had also been detained by the Taliban in Kabul in 2022.
Farid Syedkhili and Parwez Syedkhili were arrested in Kabul in mid-September.
According to the sources, Taliban intelligence agents transferred Farid and Parwez Syedkhili to an undisclosed location after their detention. Farid Syedkhili was detained on Friday near his home in Kabul’s 11th police district. Parwez Syedkhili was taken on Thursday evening from a hospital in Kabul’s 4th police district.
Sources said Parwez Syedkhili had been expelled from Iran about a week earlier.
The two former military officers were also detained in the month January 2023, during which Parwez Syedkhili was injured by gunfire.
Farid Syedkhili had remained in Afghanistan believing in the Taliban’s general amnesty, while Parwez Syedkhili had travelled to Iran about six months earlier before being expelled and returning to Afghanistan.
Former Panjshir Security Official Sentenced to Five Years in Prison
On February 3, 2025, the Taliban arrested Mohammad Arif Musleh, the former director of National Directorate of Security (NDS), the previous government’s intelligence agency, in Rukha district of Panjshir province, in Kabul.
Musleh was taken from the Parwan Se area of the capital city, and a Taliban court later sentenced him to five years in prison. After the Taliban seized Kabul in August 2021, Musleh travelled to Iran and returned to Afghanistan last year.
Mohammad Arif Masleh was arrested in Kabul on February 3, 2025.
A source said that upon his return, Musleh coordinated with the Taliban and received a “amnesty card” from them. Despite this, he was detained several times after returning to Afghanistan.
According to the source, Musleh was initially released on the guarantee of local elders, but he was repeatedly detained and ultimately sentenced to five years in prison by a Taliban court.
Former Prosecutor Detained Before Reaching Panjshir
In August 2021, a former prosecutor, Khosraw Panah, who had recently been expelled from Iran, was arrested at Darwazay-e Panjshir in the Dalan Sang area.
Kabir Owathaq (please cross check this name), the former deputy governor of Panjshir under the previous government, confirmed that Khosraw Panah, also known as “Prosecutor Younis,” had served as a prosecutor in the province.
Sources close to Panah said his family still does not know his fate. According to the sources, the family approached local Taliban authorities to seek information but were met with “mistreatment and neglect.”
Khosro Panah was arrested on August 18, 2021 in Dalan Sang, Panjshir.
During his last phone contact, Panah was near the Panjshir entrance in Dalan Sang. The connection was then lost, and witnesses later reported that Taliban forces had detained him. Sources said local Taliban authorities in Panjshir have stated that Panah is not being held in provincial prisons.
Since his arrest, however, his family has had no contact with him and remains unaware of his whereabouts.
Activist Hamza Ulfat Killed Before Reaching Home
Employees of the former republican government have faced significant threats since August 2021, but civil society activists, journalists and human rights defenders have also been targeted. Some have been detained, while others have been killed.
Civil society activist Hamza Ulfat was killed in Daikundi province in January 2025. Taliban intelligence agents had arrested Elfat on February 7, 2023, in the western outskirts of Kabul. After spending about 18 months in detention, he was released on August 25, 2024, and later travelled to Iran.
Hamza Elfat was killed in Daikundi on January 29.
After two months, Ulfat returned from Iran and, on January 15, 2025, informed his family that he was travelling from Bamyan to Nili, the capital city of Daikundi province.
According to reports, while staying at a hotel in Khadir Bazaar in Nili city, Ulfat encountered two members of Taliban intelligence. After attempting to flee, he was shot and wounded by Taliban forces.
A journalist friend of Ulfat said that before his death, Ulfat sent him a message stating that he had been injured in the Taliban attack.
Sources close to Ulfat said he had travelled from Iran to Daikundi to visit his mother and had planned afterward to seek asylum, either in Pakistan or in a Western country.
The journalist shared a text attributed to Hamza Ulfat with Afghanistan International, in which he wrote: "On January 16, the Taliban attacked me to capture me. I ran away, and they shot at me. I am now injured."
He added: "I am hiding in a mountain. My condition is very bad, and I have only two days’ worth of food. I need help if possible."
Sources close to Ulfat said he told them the Taliban bullet had struck below his knee and that he was trying to stop the bleeding using ice, snow and bandages. Hamza Ulfat later died on January 29, 2025, from injuries sustained in the shooting.
Journalist Sentenced to Two Years in Prison
Hamid Farhadi, a journalist with Etilaat Roz, had previously warned Reporters Without Borders that he was under threat and needed assistance to relocate to a safe country. After being expelled from Iran, he was arrested in Kabul on September 4, 2024, and later sentenced to two years in prison by a Taliban court.
Hamid Farhadi was arrested in Kabul on September 4, 2024.
Farhadi is currently being held at Bagram prison. According to a statement by Amnesty International, the Taliban sentenced the journalist, who works for the Etilaat-e-Roz newspaper, over the production of a report on the prevention of girls’ education. The organisation said the Taliban mistreated Farhadi, placed him in solitary confinement and subjected him to severe psychological distress.
Farhadi fled to Iran following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in August 2021. However, amid increasing pressure on Afghan refugees in Iran, he was forced to return to Kabul at the end of 2022, where he was subsequently detained by the Taliban.
Afghan Women Deported to Countries Where Their Rights Are Denied
During a meeting of the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on November 6, 2025, Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, said Iran and Pakistan were forcibly deporting Afghan refugees to countries where human rights are violated, with women particularly affected.
It remains unclear what proportion of the roughly 1.5 million Afghans deported from Iran this year are women. Since May 2025, however, Iran has expanded its deportation campaign to include women and children. Previously, most deportees were men, particularly single men.
According to the International Organization for Migration, Iran forcibly deported more than 450,000 Afghans between January and May 2025, including 30,266 families. Among those deported, 28 percent were women, 46 percent were children and 26 precent were men.
As a result, Afghan girls have been denied access to schools and universities, sharply limiting educational opportunities. Women are barred from visiting public spaces, shops and hospitals without a male guardian, or mahram, and are also prohibited from working.
The latest incident highlights the continuation of these restrictions. In Herat province, the Taliban recently prevented female doctors, nurses and patients from entering hospitals unless they were wearing a chador.
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