According to the Iranian Kurdistan Human Rights Watch and local sources in Paveh, Hawraman, a 15-year-old teenager named Soroush Rahmani committed suicide due to poverty and a few days after several of his mules were killed. Soroush engaged in Kolberi, a form of semi-legal cross-border smuggling that takes places on the Iraqi-Iranian border.
Kolberi is known for the great dangers involved in carrying heavy loads through difficult territory, risking fall from height, freezing and skirmishes with border guards.
On the evening of Wednesday, November 17, Soroush Rahmani, a 15-year-old teenager from the village of Hani Garmleh in the Paveh area, committed suicide.
Local sources reported that Rahmani’s family was very poor and that Soroush’s father suffers from cancer. Soroush Rahmani had seen kolberi as the only way to provide for his family.
To solve this problem and help his family, Soroush borrowed a few mules and engaged in kolberi. Earlier in the week, Iranian border guards opened fire on his mules, killing them all.
Soroush, who was unable to repay his loan – as stated the mules were borrowd – suffered from severe mental problems, and eventually committed suicide at home.
It seems that the Iranian government and its military forces are now not only firing at kolbers, but also at their animals.
