Kurdish tradesman Yousef Dashti was killed on 3 October after anti-smuggling police officers opened fire on his vehicle during a pursuit on the road between Bukan and Mahabad in West Azerbaijan Province.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the police, suspecting that Dashti, 38, was carrying contraband, fired dozens of shots at the car and hit him with a bullet, causing the car to overturn and killing the tradesman.
In a statement to state media, the commander of Bukan County’s police said: “After receiving a tip about a passenger car smuggling goods along the Bukan-Mahabad road, anti-smuggling police units responded. Upon seeing the officers, the driver accelerated and ignored the police’s stop warning. The driver threw three-pronged spikes onto the road and released thick smoke. Due to the high speed and loss of control, the car overturned. The driver was removed from the vehicle with the help of police and civilians and taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.”
However, videos shared on social media appeared to contradict the official account, showing bullet holes in the vehicle and suggesting that Dashti died as a result of gunfire.
In recent years, dozens of Kurdish traders have been shot dead on the roads of various provinces by anti-smuggling police on the pretext that they were carrying illegal goods.
