ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish kolbar from western Iran’s (Rojhelat) Baneh died after being deliberately run over by vehicles of Iranian border guards, reported a human rights monitor on Sunday.
According to Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Mohammad Latif Ahmedpour, a 36-year-old father of one, and several other kolbars were returning from a trip on Thursday when they encountered a group of Iranian guards on the border, who decided to run them over.
Ahmedpour died on Sunday in a hospital in Saqqez due to the severity of his wounds.
A family member of the kolbar told Hengaw that they have been threatened by relevant authorities not to bury his body in daylight to prevent inciting public anger.
The Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said in their monthly report on Saturday that two Baneh kolbars had died after falling from heights and drowning in a nearby dam, adding that another kolbar was injured after being shot by Iranian border guards, between March 21 to April 21.
Kolbars are a small cog in a sophisticated and hugely profitable machine. Clothing, alcohol, cigarettes, mobile phones - they all arrive in the Kurdistan Region from Dubai, Turkey, or Iraq’s southern borders, where they are then transferred to depots close to the Iranian border. At night, hundreds of mules transport the goods to a collection point, where wholesalers set up guarded tents to hand tens of kilos of goods over to incoming kolbars each morning.
Though no more than seven kilometers each way, the kolbar’s trek is no mean feat. The rocky path is laden with landmines and border guards who at times fire to kill or injure. But it is especially frightening in the winter, with snow several meters deep, ice-laden paths, and potent blizzard winds.
Due to limited job opportunities in many border areas of Iran, people are frequently left with no option but to take on such dangerous journeys to make a living.
According to Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Mohammad Latif Ahmedpour, a 36-year-old father of one, and several other kolbars were returning from a trip on Thursday when they encountered a group of Iranian guards on the border, who decided to run them over.
Ahmedpour died on Sunday in a hospital in Saqqez due to the severity of his wounds.
A family member of the kolbar told Hengaw that they have been threatened by relevant authorities not to bury his body in daylight to prevent inciting public anger.
The Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said in their monthly report on Saturday that two Baneh kolbars had died after falling from heights and drowning in a nearby dam, adding that another kolbar was injured after being shot by Iranian border guards, between March 21 to April 21.
Kolbars are a small cog in a sophisticated and hugely profitable machine. Clothing, alcohol, cigarettes, mobile phones - they all arrive in the Kurdistan Region from Dubai, Turkey, or Iraq’s southern borders, where they are then transferred to depots close to the Iranian border. At night, hundreds of mules transport the goods to a collection point, where wholesalers set up guarded tents to hand tens of kilos of goods over to incoming kolbars each morning.
Though no more than seven kilometers each way, the kolbar’s trek is no mean feat. The rocky path is laden with landmines and border guards who at times fire to kill or injure. But it is especially frightening in the winter, with snow several meters deep, ice-laden paths, and potent blizzard winds.
Due to limited job opportunities in many border areas of Iran, people are frequently left with no option but to take on such dangerous journeys to make a living.
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