On Saturday, September 12, Turkish military forces directly opened fire on a group of Kurdish border porters – known as Kolbar- from close range, killing a young Kolbar ‘Shahram Mohammadi’ instantly and seriously wounding another Kolbar ‘Jafar Rahbari’.

Jafar Rahbari is currently being treated at a medical centre in Van, but Shahram Mohammadi’s body has not yet been returned to his family.

Since the beginning of September, at least five Kolbars and traders have been killed in the border areas of Sardasht and Chaldoran by Iranian and Turkish troops. Eleven other Kolbars were also wounded by Iranian and Turkish forces in the border areas of Nosud, Piranshahr, Chaldoran and Qatur. During this period, 3 Kolbars were injured due to accidents such as falling from the height and accident.