Iran’s border guards killed, injured 11 Kurdish Kolbars in week

Hengaw – Iran’s border guards continue shooting Kurdish couriers with unrelenting frequency, injuring and killing at least eleven from a single province in the past week.

On Saturday, Rasool Hussein-Zada, joined the latest victims of direct targeting by Iran’s border guards as he was travelling with a group of Kolbar, carrying small amounts of goods across the border to the Kurdistan Region.

Hussein-Zada is from Dolla-Too village, West Azerbaijan Province, and was shot in the hip. After sustaining the injury, friends transported him to Sardasht hospital where he is under the care and supervision of doctors.

Items smuggled by Kulbar are generally made up of tea, tobacco, and tires.

Though considered illegal by the Iranian government, it is a local practice and one of the only means of generating income for some families.

According to data compiled by Hengaw, in the past week, 11 Kulbar from West Azerbaijan have died or been injured while working, most of them shot by border guards.

Late Saturday, Muzafar Ganja, a young man from the province’s Gasiyan Village, froze to death. On the same day, border guards shot two other Kulbar, Khalid Mohammed-Pour and Amin Khzir-Pour, severely injuring both. The latter’s health is unstable and both are currently receiving medical treatment.