A 24-year-old Kurdish man, Moein Tofighpour, from the village of Choman in Baneh, Kurdistan Province, was fatally shot by Iranian border guards while travelling in his private vehicle near the village on 14 May.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the border forces opened fire on the civilian’s car without warning, resulting in his death.
The shooting occurred despite the fact that Tofighpour was not carrying any foreign goods at the time.
Tofighpour’s body was taken to Salahuddin Ayoubi Hospital in Baneh following the incident.
This is the second time in two weeks that Kurdish civilians have been killed in the border areas of Baneh under the pretext of “fighting smuggling”.
Previously, on 7 May, Mohammad Ghaderi was shot dead by border guards at close range near the village of Gawradar in Baneh.
A relative of Ghaderi’s spoke to KHRN and said: “Mohammad Ghaderi was a 40-year-old father of five from Gawradar village and lived in Baneh. He was visiting his family in the village on 7 May and while his two children were nearby, for unknown reasons he was shot at close range by border guards and died after being hit by a bullet. Following the shooting, he was thrown from a cliff”.
Despite claiming that Ghaderi was carrying foreign goods, the border guards failed to provide any justification for shooting. Ghaderi was skilled in car wiring and was not involved in working as a kolbar, the source added.
