Claim: An image shows several dead bodies of Afghan refugees in white shrouds who were killed by Iranian border forces on 15 October in Saravan, an area in the Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran.
Fact: The claim is misleading as the image predates the incident on the Iran-Afghan border by a few days. Evidence suggests that the image actually shows the bodies of 20 coal miners who were gunned down on 11 October in the Duki area of Balochistan, Pakistan.
On 15 October 2024, a Facebook user posted an image (archive) with a Pashto language caption which translated into English reads, “The mass killing of Afghan youth by Iranian brutal forces is a black stain on human and Islamic rights and unforgivable crime.
The crime of Iranian government as a neighboring country should never be forgiven and forgotten by providing food for the poor and needy families. We call on the responsible to do a thorough investigation of this crime and not only by calling diplomatic representatives but to prove in practice the national and national responsibility of defending and protecting the rights of their people.”
Iran-Afghan Border Incident
On 16 October 2024, an Iranian human rights organisation, Haalvsh reported that up to 260 Afghans have been killed or seriously wounded by Iranian border police while trying to enter into Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran. However, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s Ambassador and Special Envoy to Afghanistan, has denied these allegations. On the other hand, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban-led Afghan government, said that the incident took place outside the Afghanistan border so necessary measures will be taken after investigating the incident, reported TOLO News. The United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan also called for an investigation into these reports, and the story remains under development as of publishing time.
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate the claim, Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse image search on Google Lens which led to a YouTube video published by a channel called Excelsior News on 11 October 2024. The video description reads, “Gunmen killed 20 miners and injured seven others in an attack on a small private coal mine in Balochistan, Pakistan late on Thursday, police said. The attackers stormed a coal mine and rounded up workers before opening fire, police said. Separatist movements have been active in the restive Balochistan province accusing the authorities of exploiting its resources.” An image similar to the one in the viral post is the thumbnail of the YouTube video.
Mahrang Baloch, human rights activist from Balochistan, also posted a similar image on X on the same day. However, the faces of the bodies are covered in this image, and the caption reads, “The brutal murder of 20 poor miners in Duki last night is yet another dark reminder that Balochistan has become a totally lawless land. Nobody—from poor laborers to common working people to political activists—is safe here. As the conflict grows uglier, the likelihood of increased military presence, money in the name of security operations, and corruption rises. My prayers and thoughts are with those affected by last night’s tragedy.”
Former Caretaker Minister for Information and Public Relations Balochistan Jan Achakzai also posted a similar image on 11 October 2024, and attributed it to the killing of miners in Balochistan.
The posts by Mahrang Baloch and Achakzai referred to the tragic incident that took place on 11 October 2024 in which at least 20 people at a coal mine were killed by gunmen in the Duki district of Balochistan. The police said that the workers were attacked on Thursday night with heavy weapons, including rocket launchers, the BBC reported. The incident took place in the days leading up to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, which took place from 15-16 October, raising questions about the security situation of the country.
While investigating, Soch Fact Check noticed the similarities between the two images. Both images show similar windows and mattresses, while one of the white sheets covering the body has “Edhi” written on it.
The Edhi Foundation is one of the largest social welfare organisations in Pakistan which provides ambulance services across the country. Since Edhi ambulances and rescue services do not operate in Iran and Afghanistan, it is clear that the picture is not from Iran.
Associated Press (AP) also posted a video showing “Distraught relatives collecting the remains of miners killed by gunmen in Pakistan’s southwest” on YouTube, which shows Edhi workers in red shirts. The video also shows the same room and bodies laid together in line, during the first few minutes that are visible in the image in the claim.
Furthermore, the claim that the video shows the dead bodies of Afghan refugees is suspect as the Taliban-led Afghan government has not yet confirmed the number of casualties and is still investigating the alleged reports. The images of the Afghan migrants killed at the Saravan border, shared by the human rights organisation Haalvsh, also differ from those in the claim in question. However, Soch Fact Check could not independently verify the images by Haalvsh as this is still a developing story.
Virality
The picture was misleadingly linked to the alleged killing of Afghan refugees in Iran across social media platforms.
On Facebook, the viral post garnered 6,100 likes, 757 comments and 332 shares. The archived versions can be seen here.
The same visuals were used by Afghan news website TOLO News in an Instagram reel here (archive).
Conclusion: A post claiming to show alleged bodies of Afghan refugees killed by Iranian border forces on 15 October is misleading. The picture in the claim likely shows the dead bodies of coal miners killed on 11 October 2024 in Duki, Balochistan.
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