Description

On 8 August 1998, amidst the Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif, the Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif was attacked as the Taliban were besieging the city. Initially, only the deaths of eight Iranian diplomats was reported, but two other diplomats and a journalist were later confirmed dead as well, bringing the total casualty rate to 11 personnel. The executions of the diplomats are speculated to have been carried out by Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. During this time, Iran was supporting the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, and the killings heightened direct military tensions along the Afghanistan–Iran border, which was controlled on the Afghan side by the Taliban's Islamic Emirate at the time.