Kurdish Kolbar Killed by Border Forces in Western Iran

Iranian border forces have shot and killed another Kurdish transborder porter, or kolbar, in the western province of Kermanshah bordering Iraq.

According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, Sadegh Mirzaei, 40, was fatally shot by members of the Nosoud Border Regiment on the evening of January 20.

The report said that two other kolbars, who were not identified, were seriously injured in the shooting incident. 

The body of Mirzaei, a native of Javanrod and a father of two children, was transported to a hospital in the city of Nosoud. 

At least six kolbars have been killed by Iranian security forces over the past two months.

The kolbars are porters who haul goods on their backs across the borders of Iran and over long distances, mostly in the impoverished, mountainous Kurdish areas adjacent to Iraq, to make a living.

The authorities label kolbars as "smugglers,” but human rights organizations maintain that their activity is a form of survival for many men living in impoverished border regions where economic opportunities are scarce.

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 death included direct fire by the military forces, blizzards, cold weather and falls from mountains and heights.