Iran
Kolbars adjust their loads high in the Hawraman mountains on the Kurdistan Region-Iran border on May 12, 2017. Photo: Fazel Hawramy/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian border guards opened fire on a group of kolbars in western Iran’s Kurdish province of Marivan, wounding at least one of them, a rights watchdog reported on Tuesday.
The kolbars were transporting packages in Marivan’s Savji village when they were shot at by the security forces on Monday, according to Hengaw Organization for Human Rights
Mozafar Asadrokh, 44, was wounded “critically” in one of his feet as a result of the attack and is currently receiving treatment at a Marivan hospital. Asadrokh is from Marivan’s Chawk village and is the father of two children.
Kolbars are semi-legal porters who transport untaxed goods across the Kurdistan Region-Iran border and sometimes the Iran-Turkey border. They are constantly targeted by Iranian border guards and are sometimes victims of natural disasters.
At least eight kolbars were killed by Iranian security forces in the month of May, according to Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. The fatality count doubled that of April, during which four kolbars lost their lives.
Many kolbars are pushed into the profession by poverty and a lack of alternative employment, particularly in Iran's impoverished Kurdish provinces.
In its annual report on human rights violations in Iran for 2023, the Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network said that a total of 29 kolbars died last year. At least 19 of them were killed by Iranian border guards.
Hengaw estimated 33 kolbars lost their lives and 176 others were wounded as a result of direct fire from Iranian forces in 2023 and at least 35 fell victim to accidents.
The kolbars were transporting packages in Marivan’s Savji village when they were shot at by the security forces on Monday, according to Hengaw Organization for Human Rights
Mozafar Asadrokh, 44, was wounded “critically” in one of his feet as a result of the attack and is currently receiving treatment at a Marivan hospital. Asadrokh is from Marivan’s Chawk village and is the father of two children.
Kolbars are semi-legal porters who transport untaxed goods across the Kurdistan Region-Iran border and sometimes the Iran-Turkey border. They are constantly targeted by Iranian border guards and are sometimes victims of natural disasters.
At least eight kolbars were killed by Iranian security forces in the month of May, according to Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. The fatality count doubled that of April, during which four kolbars lost their lives.
Many kolbars are pushed into the profession by poverty and a lack of alternative employment, particularly in Iran's impoverished Kurdish provinces.
In its annual report on human rights violations in Iran for 2023, the Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network said that a total of 29 kolbars died last year. At least 19 of them were killed by Iranian border guards.
Hengaw estimated 33 kolbars lost their lives and 176 others were wounded as a result of direct fire from Iranian forces in 2023 and at least 35 fell victim to accidents.
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