On Monday, April 06, the border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran opened fire on a group of Kurdish border porters –known as Kolbar- in the Bazargan border area of Maku County, West Azerbaijan Province,, killing one Kolbar called “Borhan Janikanlu” and injuring two others.

“Janikanlu, 28 years old and married with two children was killed while two other Kolbars were injured in this shooting. The identity of the injured Kolbars has not been revealed yet.”, an informed source in Mako confirmed the news to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).

According to the source, Jinkanlu’s body was transferred to the Department of Forensic Medicine in Mako but it has not yet been handed over to his family.

According to statistics compiled by KHRN, at least 70 Kurdish Kolbers and businessmen were killed in 2019 by military agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran or due to natural disasters and insecurity of the Kolbari routes. In addition, 154 Kolbars and other businessmen were injured during the year.

Borhan Janikanlu