Five Kolbars Shot and Critically Injured in Western Iran

Border forces of the Islamic Republic in the western Kurdistan province have shot and seriously injured five kolbars amid an escalation of violence against the transborder porters. 

Hengaw Human Rights Organization reported that the forces on March 6 directly fired at the kolbars near the border of Hengejal and threatened them with death before forcing them to call emergency services "because they will need it." 

The kolbars were then ordered to flee and subsequently shot at close range, reportedly from just two meters away.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network confirmed the incident. They detailed that one kolbar, Zaniar Siyahi, was arrested, beaten, and forced to strip before being shot at close range. 

Salehi's condition is reported to be critical, and he has been transferred to a hospital in Tabriz for treatment.

The kolbars are porters who haul goods on their backs and on foot across the borders of Iran, over long distances, mostly 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 death included direct fire by the military forces, blizzards, cold weather and falls from mountains and heights.