Coinciding with World Humanitarian Day, several former Afghanistan military personnel continue to face security and human rights crises. One of these former soldiers, who fled to Iran out of fear for his life and that of his family, says migration did not put an end to his worries, as his 13-year-old child was murdered in Iran. According to him, following this incident, his family has faced serious threats and pressure from the killer’s family, and he himself remains concerned about the safety of his other family members.
Meanwhile, several human rights activists say the past five years have been years of fear, concealment, and evasion of death for many former Afghanistan military personnel. According to them, some of these individuals have been targeted with threats, revenge, and targeted killings, and some live under assumed identities, far from their families, to protect their lives.
Hedayatullah (pseudonym), one of the former Afghanistan military personnel, left Afghanistan for Iran four years ago out of fear of the Taliban and security threats. According to him, migration did not end his fear and worries either, and during this time, his 13-year-old child was murdered in Iran.
This former soldier says: “Four years ago, because of security threats from the Taliban, after enduring many hardships, I was forced to leave Afghanistan along with my wife and five children and seek refuge in Iran. But this migration did not put an end to the worries and hardships facing me and my family.”
According to him, some time after arriving in Iran, his 13-year-old child disappeared, and one day later, his lifeless, tortured body was found. He adds: “My 13-year-old son, Abdul Ahad, disappeared on May 3, 2026, and one day later, his lifeless body was found bearing clear signs of severe torture.”
According to Hedayatullah, following this incident, he and his family have faced threats and severe pressure from the killer’s family. He says: “I can neither return to Afghanistan, nor do I feel safe and secure in Iran; a situation that has cast the future of me and my family into a cloud of uncertainty and serious worry. We came to Iran to live here in peace and security, but we have no peace in Iran either. My life and the lives of my children are in danger.”
Hedayatullah is calling for justice to be served, for the serious investigation of his child’s murder, and for urgent attention from the international community, the United Nations (UN), and international human rights institutions to the situation of former Afghanistan military personnel and their families.
Razia (pseudonym), Hedayatullah’s wife, says her 13-year-old child was working at a shop in Iran and disappeared after 10 p.m. She says: “We searched all the local hospitals and also informed the police. Finally, at five in the afternoon the next day, we received news that they had found my child. The killer has been arrested, but so far he has said nothing about why he murdered my child.”
This mother, while shedding tears, says the life of her other child is also under threat. Razia says: “The killer’s mother comes to our home, and instead of offering condolences and sharing our grief, she threatens us, saying they will kill or imprison my other child too. The killer’s family says we are migrants and can do nothing about it. And in our own country, since your husband is a fugitive soldier, no agency will hold us accountable on your behalf regarding your rights.”
Maryam Maroof Arwin, a human rights activist, says the past five years have been years of fear, concealment, and evasion of death for many former Afghanistan military personnel. According to her, some of them have been targeted with threats, revenge, and targeted killings, and some also live under assumed identities, far from their families, to protect their lives.
This human rights activist adds: “The problems facing former soldiers are not limited to security threats alone. Unemployment, poverty, economic hardship, an uncertain future, and the lack of stable residency status in neighboring countries have plunged their lives and those of their families into serious crisis. Many former soldiers, out of fear of being identified, detained, and forcibly deported to Afghanistan, cannot even freely defend their labor and social rights. The denial of education to their children, the lack of proper housing, and labor exploitation are also among the other problems facing these families.”
Ms. Arwin emphasizes that the international community, the UN, and human rights institutions must take the situation of former Afghanistan military personnel seriously and provide legal support, access to education, labor rights, and safe pathways for residency and resettlement for them and their families.
She says: “Many of these former soldiers are calling for support from the international community, the creation of legal pathways to residency, access to education for their children, protection of their labor rights, and the provision of safe avenues for resettlement.”
This comes as the Taliban, since regaining control of Afghanistan, have consistently detained and imprisoned former soldiers, and in some cases have killed them.
According to findings by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, the Taliban killed approximately 110 former soldiers between 2023 and mid 2025.
However, some time ago, several former Afghanistan military personnel and officials who fled to Iran after the Taliban’s return to power had expressed concern over their difficult security and economic situation. In an interview with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, they had said that, given the experience of some former soldiers being killed in Iran, their security concerns had increased, and they are forced to change their place of residence from time to time.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
قتل فجیع فرزند یک نظامی پیشین در ایران؛ «حتا فرزندانمان در امان نیستند»
