Iranian Forces Shot Dead Four Baloch in Semnan
DOZZAAP, BALOCHISTAN: The identities of four Baloch men killed during an operation by Iranian security forces in Semnan Province have been confirmed, amid conflicting accounts from Iranian authorities and Baloch human rights groups over the circumstances of the incident.
According to the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network, the victims were Jamshid Aalizahi, 21 son of Shah Nazar, from the village of Javantal in the Cheshmeh Ziarat district of Zahedan County; Abdol Rehman Qanbarzehi, approximately 45 years old; Tayyeb Qanbarzehi, approximately 29 son of Abdul Khaleq; and Eido Qanbarzehi, approximately 51, son of Durr Mohammad. The latter three were all from Cheshmeh Ziarat.
The rights group said the four men were fatally shot by Iranian military forces in the Shahroud Desert of Semnan Province on Saturday, July 11, 2026.
Iranian police have offered a different account of the incident. Semnan Province Police Commander Seyed Mousa Hosseini said personnel from the 120th Special Forces Battalion identified two Mazda pickup trucks and a motorcycle that were allegedly linked to armed drug trafficking groups while conducting patrols in the Shahroud Desert.
According to Hosseini, the occupants ignored orders to stop and opened fire on security forces, prompting an exchange of gunfire in which the four men were killed. Police said 285 kilograms of narcotics were seized during the operation and that the motorcyclist fled the scene and remains at large.
However, local witnesses and Baloch Rights groups disputed the official account, adding that security forces opened lethal fire on the vehicle without prior warning or a stop signal, killing all four occupants at the scene.
The International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (IVBMP) condemned the killings, describing them as part of a continuing pattern of violence and human rights abuses against the Baloch people by Iran.
The organisation called on the United Nations and international human rights bodies to conduct an independent investigation into the incident and to hold Iran accountable for any violations of international law.
