Death toll from Baneh checkpoint clash rises to three

Hengaw – Wednesday, July 1, 2026

The death toll from the armed clash at the Baneh checkpoint has risen to three after Afshin Fatahi, a member of the Iranian security forces, died from his injuries in Sanandaj (Sine). Hengaw previously reported on the clash between the East Kurdistan Defense Units (YRK), the armed wing of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), and Iranian security forces in Baneh.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Afshin Fatahi, a member of Iran's Law Enforcement Command (Faraja) from Bijar, died from his injuries on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Sanandaj after receiving treatment for wounds sustained in the clash at the Baneh checkpoint.

The confrontation occurred on the evening of Friday, June 26, 2026, at the checkpoint on the Baneh–Saqqez road, where fighters from YRK engaged in a heavy armed clash with Iranian security forces, including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and personnel stationed at the checkpoint.

Fatahi's death brings the number of Iranian security forces members killed in the clash to three. Those killed have been identified as Afshin Fatahi of Bijar and Mohammad Hossein Beigi of Qorveh, both members of Faraja, and Mardin Ahmadi, a conscript soldier from Saqqez.

According to Hengaw's sources, the clash also wounded at least two other members of the Iranian security forces and one civilian who was passing through the checkpoint at the time.