ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A young kolbar was shot dead by border guards near the Kurdish city of Baneh in western Iran, a human rights watchdog reported on Monday.
Sayvan Sahihi, a 20-year-old Baneh resident, was “shot and killed at close range near the Sardab border of Baneh in Sanandaj province,” the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said.
“The Iranian border regiment forces opened fire without warning, resulting in his untimely demise,” the watchdog added.
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.
Many kolbars are pushed into the profession by poverty and a lack of alternative employment, particularly in Iran's Kurdish provinces. Families of kolbars greatly suffer from attacks by Iranian border guards, as the transport of goods is often the household’s primary source of income.
In its annual report on human rights violations in Iran for 2023, the Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said that a total of 29 kolbars died last year, with at least 19 of them being killed by Iranian border guards.
An estimated 33 kolbars lost their lives and 176 others were wounded as a result of direct fire from Iranian forces in 2023, according to data from Hengaw. At least 35 fell victim to natural accidents during that year.
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