Iranian border guards have shot dead Mohammad Towhid-Panah, a 25-year-old kolbar from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, in the Hangeh-ye Zhal border area of Baneh, Kurdistan Province.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that, in the early hours of 10 August, border guards stationed in the Hangeh-ye Zhal border area opened fire on a group of kolbars at close range and without prior warning, killing Towhid-Panah at the scene.
His body was buried earlier today in his home village of Vezmeleh in Saqqez County. He had reportedly married around four months ago, and his wife is pregnant.
Research conducted by KHRN indicates that the Hangeh-ye Zhal border area has been one of the deadliest border regions for kolbars in recent years.
Over the past few weeks, border guards have shot dead at least six kolbars in the border areas of Nowsud, Marivan, Baneh and Sarvabad. At least three other kolbars have been injured in the Hangeh-ye Zhal border area by a landmine explosion and military gunfire.
