The government's attack on Bestana dates back to the spring of 1968, due to the killing of a chief of a hired armed regiment (mercenary) of an Arab named Sheikh Anash, who on April 13, 1968, was killed in an ambush on the Erbil-Gwer road near the village of Turak. The work of this Arab sheikh and his men consisted of raiding Kurdish villages, carrying out looting, and torturing Kurdish villagers. He had martyred nearly 10 innocent Kurds. In the attack on the village of Telkhem at the foot of the Qarachogh mountain on June 6, 1963, he and his gunmen had a significant participation along with the National Guard and other government forces, in which four Peshmerga and two citizens of the village were martyred..
Clearly, the reason for the killing of the mercenary chief Sheikh Anash goes back to his harsh and hostile stance and his aggression against the interests of those citizens and villagers whom he had treated in the manner described, especially in revenge for the martyrdom of two brothers named Anwar and Tayar in the attack on the village of Telkhem in 1963.
Regarding the Iraqi government's stance on the incident, immediately upon his killing, the Ministry of Defense issued a harsh statement and announced a surprise attack on the Peshmerga. On the same day in the afternoon, the 3rd Brigade of the Iraqi Army attacked the Peshmerga in the village of Bestana, affiliated with the Erbil plain, which resulted in a fierce three-hour battle. However, the Erbil Plain Peshmerga force, under the command of Faris Bawa, confronted them very fiercely. After a hot battle ensued, the Peshmerga were able to surround the Iraqi Army force and kill many of their officers and soldiers. Then, through negotiations and agreement, the Peshmerga allowed them to retreat, and their army returned defeated.
It is necessary to point out that a few days before the killing of Sheikh Anash, that is, on March 5, 1968, a Kurdish mercenary chief named Hawez Mam Yahya was ambushed and killed near the city of Koya by the Peshmerga under the leadership of Sergeant Osman Yusuf and Dr. Khalid Saeed, who was very supportive of the government and a very cruel person towards the Peshmerga. However, the government neither showed a stance nor even mentioned it, yet for an Arab tribal chief, it created all this uproar and aggression.
Sources:
1- Masoud Barzani، Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, Aylul Revolution 1961-1975, 1st Edition 2004.
2- Sayid Kaka، Memoirs of a Peshmerga, Ministry of Culture Press, 1st Edition, 1997.
3- Ari Karim، Several Living Pages in the Aylul Revolution, Khabat Press, Duhok 1999.
4- Khurshid Shere، Struggle and Blood, Memoirs of the Years of Peshmerga Struggle, 3rd Edition, Erbil, 2015.