Two kolbars killed in an avalanche along the Iran–Turkey border

Hengaw — Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Two Kurdish kolbars from Urmia, Masoum Ahmadi and his cousin Jandar Ahmadi, lost their lives in an avalanche along the border between Iran and Turkey.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Ahmadi and Ahmadi, both kolbars from Kuran village in the Soma and Bradost region of Urmia, died on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, when an avalanche struck the area.

Sources familiar with the incident reported that a third kolbar, whose identity remains unknown, was also caught in the avalanche but was ultimately rescued and survived.

Dozens of kolbars who rely on mountain border routes for their livelihoods are injured each year by avalanches, and several lose their lives.