In the past few days, because of the direct firing of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces, one young Kurdish porter and one Kurdish trader were killed in the border areas of Sardasht and Oshnoieh.
According to news received by the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, as well as reports published on social media, on Saturday and Sunday, December 14th, and 15th, 2019, Aziz Maroufi, a trader and a resident of the village of Bimazrteh Oshnoieh, and Hadi Hassani, a porter from city of Rabt in Sardasht, were shot dead in the border areas by direct firing of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces.
According to local sources, Hadi Hassani, a 19-year-old porter, was shot and severely injured from “very close range” by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces stationed in the Bitush border area of Sardasht. He lost his life after he was transferred to a hospital.
Hadi Hassani was reported to have lost his father a few years ago and had gone into porter job because of lack of other jobs in the area and to support his mother and four sisters.
Also, in another report, on Saturday, December 15th, 2019, Aziz Maroufi, a trader and a resident of the village of ” Bimazrteh ” in Oshnoieh, was killed by direct firing by troops near the village of his residence.
Mr. Maroufi is reported to be married and has two children.
According to a research conducted by the Campaign, border traders, who same as porter, but less frequent, are targeted by the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces, are sometimes referred to as border traders. Border traders are group of Iranian Kurdish citizens who transport merchants across the borders of Iran and Iraq to make a living. The difference between this group of border traders and the porters is that these people, although do not own the cargoes, instead of carrying the loads on their backs and shoulders, they use cattle (mostly mules and, in some cases, horses) to transport the cargoes.
Of course, in the border areas of Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan and Kermanshah, and among Kurds, the term “border trader”, in addition to the group in question, refers to everyone who trades in formal and informal border markets.
According to reports released by the Campaign and other human rights organizations, since the beginning of this year, tens of porters and traders have died in border crossings as a result of direct firing by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces.