Iranian border guards kill two Kurdish porters near Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Early Sunday, Iranian security forces opened fire on Kurdish porters, kulbar, crossing the Kurdistan Region-Iranian border, killing two.

The term "kulbar," as they are referred to in Kurdish, are individuals who carry goods on their backs through the rugged mountains to transport them from Iran to the Kurdistan Region or vice versa.

With no other means of livelihood, porters cut through risky mountain's roads carrying tobacco, clothes, and tea, and heavy packages, often more than one meter above their shoulders, crossing the border with the goods on their back.

They carry an average of 75 kilograms (150 pounds) on their backs as they journey across the Zagros Mountains, back and forth to make a living amidst rampant unemployment.

Although this profession is illegal because it falls within the framework of "smuggling," it has become a local practice that many lost their lives practicing it over the past years.

According to Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish rights watchdog, Iranian border guards shot at two men, a 37-year-old and a 22-year-old, killing them both.

A Hengaw report noted that one of the kulbar is from the city of Sardasht (Shahristan), Western Azerbaijan province. The younger individual was from the city of Bana, Kurdistan province of Iran.

As per data compiled by the rights group, Iranian security forces killed about 20 kulbar on the border in 2019.

Editing by Khrush Najari