At least 20 Kurdish porters injured due to gunfire from Islamic Republic forces on Saturday night

At least 20 Kurdish porters were injured on Saturday night, March 5, due to gunfire from border guards in the Nowsud border area of Kermanshah province. Kolbar News and the Hengaw Human Rights Organization reported that these porters were wounded in the abdomen, back, head, arms, and legs and have been transferred to medical centers in the city of Paveh. According to reports, the goods belonging to these porters, who are from the cities of Dalahu, Sarvabad, Marivan, Paveh, Javanrud, and Thalas Babajani, were confiscated by the Islamic Republic forces. The report identified 17 injured porters, including Mohammad Moradi, Behnam Khosravi, Hossein Bahrami, Ahson Hosseini, and Tawfiq Bahrami from Javanrud, Mobin Karami, Milad Roustayi, Farzad Rostami, and Amir Rahmani from Dalahu, Arman Rahmani, Mahmoud Karami, and Meysam Amini from Thalas Babajani, Kaveh (surname unknown) and Mehdi (surname unknown) from Marivan, Foad Feyzi from Sanandaj, Yahya Noori from Sarvabad, and Meysam Rostami from Paveh. Dana Lanj Abadi, a reporter for the Mukrian News Agency in Kurdistan, told VOA last week: 'The situation of porters remains critical, and unfortunately, we witness injuries and deaths of porters every day.' She added: 'Not only has the situation of porters not changed in light of its global reflections, but we also witness painful confrontations with these individuals every day.' According to the Mukrian News Agency reporter, 'Portering is not just a problem that has tarnished human dignity, but it is an exploitative situation in Kurdistan.' Dana Lanj Abadi emphasized that 'portering is a product of the rentier capitalist relations in Iran,' adding: 'The action to ban the entry of foreign products has issued a license for the killing of porters, which serves as a pretext for expanding smuggling throughout Iran.' She pointed out that porters, as heads of families, know they may never return home, yet they undertake this exhausting and dangerous work because the means of livelihood in Kurdistan are limited. According to statistics published on the Kolbar News website, in 2023, a total of 299 porters in border areas and roads of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah provinces have been killed or injured due to factors such as direct gunfire from military forces, avalanches, frostbite, stepping on landmines, and falling from heights.