Iranian Forces Fatally Shoot Another Kolbar Amid Rising Violence

Another kolbar was fatally shot by Iranian border forces in the western Kermanshah province amid a persisting surge in violence against the transborder porters. 

Peyman Ahmadi, 35, was killed when armed forces opened fire on a group of kolbars on March 23 at the Nowsud border crossing in northwestern Kermanshah province.

The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that following the fatal shooting, Ahmadi's remains were transferred to a medical center in Nowsud city. 

His family has yet to receive his body for burial rites.

Kolbars are crossborder porters who carry goods on foot across Iran's borders, traversing vast distances, particularly in the impoverished, hilly Kurdish areas bordering Iraq.

According to the Kolbar News website, as many as 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 military fire, blizzards, harsh weather conditions, and falls from mountains and heights.