The Iranian military forces have shot dead two Kurdish Kolber workers identified as brothers in the Alan border area of the Sardasht region, and a state of curfew has been declared in the area following the shooting, according to reliable local sources and eyewitnesses.
The victims shot dead on 27 June at 2100 local time have been identified as brothers, 22-year-old Rauf Alixani and 26-year-old Latif Alixani.
A reliable source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that “a state of curfew has been declared in the village of Gwezly near the town of Sardasht following the killing of the two Kolber workers. The village has been surrounded by the Law Enforcement Forces and the villagers have fled their homes in fear of being arrested.”
The source said: “After the killing of the two Kolber brothers, on Monday evening of 27 June 2016, the Law Enforcement Forces surrounded the village. In the last few days, a number of the local villagers have been arrested and beaten by officers of the Law Enforcement Forces. The military forces present in the area have also cut electricity and telephone lines. The military forces have also set fire to farms owned by the local villagers.”
The source added: “On 30 June 2016, the military forces surrounded the village once again and arrested three villagers, Abubakr Alixani, Naseh Alixani and Omar Abdullahpoor. Other villagers have since abandoned their homes and fled to the village of Bewgi.”
The two Kolber brothers were killed after the Iranian military forces targeted a group of Kurdish Kolber workers who had headed towards the border areas to pick up some goods to transfer to other border points.
The victims had gone to the border area to pick up goods, so they did not carry anything at the time of the shooting and they were directly shot dead without any initial warnings, according to eyewitnesses in the area.
Four bullets hit Rauf’s chest and two bullets had hit Latif’s heart and head.
One of the officers responsible for the shooting has been identified as Sergeant Rafiee.
After the Iranian forces killed the two Kolber brothers, they also shot dead 12 horses belonging to the Kurdish Kolber workers in the same area.
KHRN annual report published in 2015 revealed that Iranian military forces had killed 44 and seriously wounded 21 Kurdish Kolber workers and tradespersons, while seven Kolber workers had drowned in rivers or lost their lives due to hypothermia and other such causes.
