Two kolbar brothers shot by Turkish border guards in Iran

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region —Two Kurdish kolbar brothers were shot by Turkish border guards in Iran’s Western Azerbaijan province on Saturday, according to a human rights watchdog.

Brothers 24-year-old Muslim Ghasemi and 22-year-old Mosleh Ghasemi were among a group of kolbars targeted by Turkish border guards near the village of Kuran, located roughly 75 kilometres north west of the city of Urmia. While both brothers were shot, only Muslim has died of his injuries, according to France-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network.

Kolbars are semi-legal porters who transport untaxed goods across the Kurdistan Region-Iran border. Many are pushed into the profession amid high unemployment, particularly in Iran’s Kurdish provinces.  Dozens of them are either killed or wounded every year by Iranian security forces, and sometimes Turkish security forces.

Two other brothers from the same village of Kuran were killed this past summer. Shamzin was injured on July 1 by Iranian border guards, eight days later he succumbed to his injuries in a hospital in the Turkish city of Van. His older brother Arsalan was shot and killed on May 24 by Turkish border guards.

An estimated 79 kolbars and tradesmen  were killed by Iran's military forces, accidents, or natural disasters at the Iranian border in 2019, with another 66 injured , according to statistics by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). Among those deceased, 57 people were shot dead by border guards, and 22 were killed in accidents such as during police chases and mine explosions, as well as natural disasters.