ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least 57 kolbars were killed by Iranian security forces in the border areas and 282 were injured in 2024, an increase from the previous year’s tally, according to a human rights watchdog’s annual report.
“57 kolbars were killed and 282 kolbars and traders were injured. More than 80% of the kolbars were killed or wounded by direct fire from the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said on Saturday.
The Kurdistan province in western Iran topped the list for places with the highest number of kolbar casualties.
Among the casualties, 19 were under the age of 18, including one who was killed.
Kolbars are semi-legal porters who transport untaxed goods across the Kurdistan Region-Iran border and sometimes the Iran-Turkey border. They are constantly targeted by Iranian border guards and are sometimes victims of natural disasters.
Many kolbars are pushed into the profession by poverty and a lack of alternative employment, particularly in Iran's Kurdish provinces. Families of kolbars greatly suffer from attacks by Iranian border guards, as the transport of goods is often the household’s primary source of income.
In its annual report on human rights violations in Iran for 2023, the Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network said that a total of 29 kolbars died last year. At least 19 of them were killed by Iranian border guards.
Hengaw estimated 33 kolbars lost their lives and 176 others were wounded as a result of direct fire from Iranian forces in 2023 and at least 35 fell victim to accidents.
