Zahedan: 15-year-old Erfan Jamalzehi shot in the head by military forces

Erfan Jamalzehi (Shahnavazi), a 15-year-old Baluch boy, was shot in the head on the evening of Tuesday, 6 October 2026, on Daneshgah Street in Zahedan when military forces opened fire on his family's private car. According to HRANA, citing a human rights documentation group in Baluchestan, the shots were fired without any order to stop or prior warning.

According to the report, Erfan was in the car with his father and brother-in-law when military forces opened fire on it and a bullet struck him in the head. He underwent surgery at a medical centre and received about 50 stitches. Security officials told the family that the officers had fired after receiving a report of a clash at Zahedan's "Bazaar-e Moshtarak", suspecting that the car's occupants were armed. The boy's family is demanding that officials be held accountable.

Shooting without warning: a recurring pattern in Sistan and Baluchestan

Shootings by the Islamic Republic's security and military forces at Baluch citizens and their cars, without warning and on mere "suspicion", have been reported many times in Sistan and Baluchestan.

In the same report, HRANA cited the annual report of Human Rights Activists in Iran, according to which military forces' gunfire targeted 32,820 citizens in the Iranian year 1404 (2025–2026); 6,822 of them were killed and 25,998 were wounded.

A military forces' bullet, fired without an order to stop or a warning, struck a 15-year-old in the head inside his family's car.

The security climate in Zahedan

The shooting took place a few days before Nosrat Eftekhari, deputy police commander of Sistan and Baluchestan, was killed in a bomb blast in Zahedan, an event that further heightened the security climate in the city. A few days earlier, the death in custody of Omid Ghanouni, a teenager from Khansar, had again raised questions about the violence of the repressive forces against teenagers.

Sources

• HRANA