Iranian Border Forces Shoot Dead Young Kolbar

Border forces of the Islamic Republic shot dead a young kolbar inside Iraqi Kurdistan amid an escalation of violence against the transborder porters.

A 23-year-old Kurdish kolbar, Salar Ahmadi, from the village of Nelas in Sardasht district, was killed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) border forces on Thursday.

According to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, IRGC troops stationed at the Sardasht border opened fire with DShk rifles on a group of kolbars inside the territory of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. 

The attack resulted in Salar Ahmadi's death.

Hengaw reported that Salar's body has not yet been returned to his hometown. 

According to Hengaw, at least five Kurdish kolbars have been killed by Iranian Border Guards and IRGC forces at the borders of Baneh, Saqqez, and Sardasht since the beginning of May, a period of only nine days.

Kolbars are porters who haul goods on their backs and feet over long distances across Iran's borders, mainly in the impoverished, mountainous Kurdish areas adjacent to Iraq.

According to the Kolbar News website, a total of 85 kolbars lost their lives while transporting goods in the western provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah between March and September 2023.

The causes of their deaths include direct fire by military forces, blizzards, cold weather, and falls from mountains and heights.