Iranian Border Guards Shoot Two Kurdish Kolbars

Iranian border guards shot and seriously injured two Kurdish kolbars at the Baneh border on Sunday.

Ako Sharifi, 22, and Shwane Alipour, 25, were shot without warning in the Hangazhal border area, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

The shooting happened on the orders of Mostafa Moradi, deputy commander of Iran’s Border Guards.

Both men were hospitalized with severe injuries.

Kolbars are porters who carry goods on their backs across long distances at Iran’s borders, mainly in the impoverished, mountainous Kurdish regions adjacent to Iraq

The number of deaths and injuries among border porters in Iran’s western provinces increased by 15 percent in 2024, with 345 kolbars affected by violence and harsh conditions.

The casualties, recorded in West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah provinces, included 59 fatalities and 286 injuries.

Direct gunfire from Iranian military forces accounted for 75 percent of these incidents, with 259 kolbars shot during the year, according to data from Kolbar News.