Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that “Sina Rasulzadeh, was killed by direct fire from Iranian border regiment forces while transporting goods across the border heights of Baneh City,” in Sanandaj province.
Rasulzadeh was reportedly shot at a close range with a Kalashnikov rifle.
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 dangerous work by poverty and a lack of alternative employment, particularly in Iran's impoverished Kurdish provinces.
According to Hengaw, 37 kolbars were killed or injured by direct fire from the Iranian forces stationed at the borders with the Kurdistan Region.
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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