Governor of Baneh: Details of the Killing of Two Kolbers Under Review by the Ministry of Interior

The governor of Baneh announced that two inspection teams from the Ministry of Interior have examined "all angles" of the killing of two kolbers in this city, and the officers who shot at these kolbers remain in custody. According to ILNA news agency, Mohammad Fallahi stated on Sunday, September 10, that in recent days, two inspection teams from the Ministry of Interior visited Baneh and reviewed "all aspects and statements from border guards, witnesses, and the families of the deceased in this incident." He also announced that the officers who shot at these kolbers are in custody until the "truth is clarified." On Tuesday morning, September 4, during a shooting incident by the Baneh border patrol towards a group of kolbers one kilometer from the border near the village of "Hang Jal," two kolbers were killed instantly by gunfire. The next day, Mojtaba Shirood Bozorgi, the military prosecutor of Kurdistan province, reported that five suspects had been arrested in connection with the deaths of the two kolbers. Protests were held in Baneh and Sanandaj in response to the killing of these two kolbers, and several demonstrators were arrested. Human rights groups have described the direct and unprovoked shooting at kolbers as "inhumane" and have strongly criticized such actions by the military and police forces of the Islamic Republic. Kolbers are individuals who carry goods across Iran's borders for their livelihood. They are primarily engaged in this work in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah. Some officials and institutions in the Islamic Republic refer to kolbers as agents of smuggling goods across the borders into Iran, but the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic stated in May 2016 that his fight against smuggling does not mean confronting kolbers. Nevertheless, numerous reports are published annually about the deaths and injuries of kolbers due to gunfire from police forces. Last year, following the deaths of four kolbers due to an avalanche near the city of Sardasht in West Azerbaijan province, the issue of kolbers was once again raised in cyberspace and among some officials. After this incident, 60 civil and political activists wrote a letter to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, and members of parliament, urging them to provide immediate support to the families of the victims and to take long-term actions to create more jobs in the western provinces of Iran. On July 29 of last year, Rasoul Khazari, a member of the Social Commission of Parliament, announced that there are a total of 70,000 kolbers at the country's borders and emphasized the need for their "organization."