A passerby from Bewrani village of Sardasht city in Rojhelat was shot dead and his sister injured in a shooting by Iranian security forces yesterday. 

Iranian border guards went to Sardasht’s Bewrani village to take hold of border courier belongings and traders in Bewrani village of Sardasht city. The villagers resisted the border guards, and the guards opened fire, killing a wholesaler named "Hemin Hamza." According to Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Hemin was hit in the chest and later died of his injuries. He was the father of two. 

Many villagers rely on smuggling goods across the border to the Kurdistan region to put food on the table; border couriers move most of the goods across the border on their backs and are usually confronted with rounds from Iran border guards.

Frustrated with the killing of the man, the villagers took to the streets to protest the killing, they blocked the way into Zardasht and gathered in front of the Zardasht Mayorship, and the security forces fired over the protesters to disperse them; a sister of the killed man was injured in the shooting. 

However, they were dispersed by the security forces, and two people, one of whom was the trader's sister, were injured.

Many people attended the funeral and chanted slogans against the government.

The killed businessman was buried in a mass funeral, and people cried anti-government slogans. 

The number of border couriers killed yearly is not officially known since some incidents are not reported; however, Human Rights groups put the number at around tens of victims every month.