Iranian border guards targeted a group of unarmed Kurdish border porter workers (known as Kolbars) in Orumiyeh border areas on 23 September, injuring a Kolbar from Khanik village, local sources told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).

The injured Kolbar, Shafi Ahmadi, was hit when the Iran border guards opened fire on a group of several Kolbars, the sources said.

According to KHRN statistics, at least five Kolbars and border traders have been killed and 12 others injured since the beginning of September by Iranian and Turkish forces in the border areas.

Statistics by the Iranian Statistics Center indicates that Iran’s Kurdistan region has the highest inflation and unemployment rates in the entire country, which has led the people of the border areas to take up the highly risky Kolbari job.

Dozens of Kolbars and border traders are killed or injured every year by the Iranian armed forces under the pretext of targeting smugglers.