Iranian Border Forces Shoot Dead Young Kolbar

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

Direct fire from Iranian border forces killed a 19-year-old kolbar, identified as Sina Rasoolzadeh, while transporting goods across the border heights of Baneh city.

According to a report by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, border forces stationed at the Sartazin border in Baneh fired upon a group of kolbars on Tuesday. 

Sina Rasoolzadeh, one of the kolbars, was fatally shot.

Rasoolzadeh, a resident of the village of Nalas in the district of Sardasht, was killed at close range with a Kalashnikov rifle by the border regiment forces.

Informed sources have reported that Rasoolzadeh's body was transported to Salah Aldin Hospital in Baneh.

Kolbars are porters who haul goods on their backs and feet over long distances across Iran's borders, mainly around 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.