Sistan and Baluchestan: HRANA says at least 94 killed in six months of armed clashes in the southeast

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), in a report published on Monday, 12 October 2026, announced that from 31 March to 10 October this year at least 94 people were killed and 33 wounded in armed attacks and operations by the Islamic Republic's military and security forces in southeastern Iran, particularly in Sistan and Baluchestan province. According to the human rights body, the intervals between these incidents have grown shorter in recent months.

HRANA has recorded at least 63 armed incidents over this period. The most common type was attacks on patrol vehicles and military convoys, accounting for 17 cases. Another 14 were targeted shootings, seven of which took place near the victims' homes or workplaces or on their commuting routes. The report did not provide a breakdown of the dead among government forces, ordinary citizens and armed individuals.

Military operations in residential areas

According to HRANA, the Islamic Republic's forces used drones, artillery, armoured vehicles and heavy weapons in these operations. In Jahadabad, Gharibabad and Manzelab, houses and places where clashes had occurred were destroyed, blown up or set on fire. The body warned that using such weapons in residential areas increases the risk of civilian deaths and the destruction of their property.

The report comes days after Erfan Jamalzehi, a 15-year-old boy, was shot in the head by military forces in Zahedan, and his family demanded accountability.

Recent attacks in Zahedan and Jalaq

HRANA cited several incidents in October. On 2 October, a vehicle said to belong to the Fatemiyoun Brigade, linked to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was targeted near Zahedan with a booby trap and gunfire. On 7 October, a police post in Jalaq was attacked with a mine, an RPG and medium-calibre weapons, and on 9 October a roadside bomb targeted a police convoy near Zahedan.

According to HRANA, the "Popular Fighters Front", formed in December 2025 with the participation of Jaish al-Adl and several smaller Baluch groups, has claimed responsibility for six attacks, and the Ansar al-Furqan group for one; no group has claimed most of the attacks, or they cannot be attributed to a group with certainty. HRANA says that the Islamic Republic's security bodies' focus on the west and northwest of the country during the war with America and Israel created the conditions for this trend to spread in the southeast.

Sistan and Baluchestan is one of Iran's most deprived provinces, and Baluch citizens have long complained of discrimination and widespread repression. This month the Islamic Republic executed Omar Dorostaran on a charge of membership in Jaish al-Adl, without publishing any document from his trial.

According to HRANA, 94 people were killed in southeastern Iran between March and October, and the Islamic Republic destroyed residential houses in its operations.