The evil intentions of the Baathists against the Kurdish people began after the February 8, 1963 coup when they formed the most notorious Baathist armed organization in the history of the Iraqi state, which is the National Guard organization. After negotiations reached a dead end, they quickly removed their masks through that organization and declared war openly in front of journalists. They also announced with pride that the Iraqi Army was preparing for a picnic in the beloved North, and consequently killing innocent Kurdistan residents... On June 10, 1963, the ruling Iraqi National Council decided to consider Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Mosul, and Kirkuk as military zones and battlefields for the military operation.
The government's goal was to focus on a specific front and fight easy, intermittent battles on other fronts. It chose the Akre-Pires front from among all the fronts, and its goal was to reach Barzan. This task was assigned to two divisions. The first division was under the command of Brigadier General Staff Abd al-Karim Farhan, and the second division was under the command of Brigadier General Staff Ibrahim Faisal al-Ansari for the Mergasor front. The implementation of the plan was under the direct supervision of Minister of Defense Salih Mahdi Ammash and Chief of Staff of the Army Tahir Yahya. Everyone believed that occupying Barzan would achieve the destruction of the revolution for them.
On June 15, 1963, the forces of the First Division, supported by five thousand mercenaries, attacked Mount Seri Akre. After a violent battle, the Iraqi Army seized this strategic site, leaving 69 dead and 122 wounded. As for the ranks of the mercenaries, there were 23 dead and 37 wounded. After that, the Iraqi Army prepared to occupy Mount Pires.
With the arrival of the news of the Pires battle to the leader of the revolution, Mullah Mustafa Barzani, he prepared to return to the battlefield, as he had previously planned to go to Bradost. He appointed Colonel Abd al-Kafi Nabawi as responsible for the Spilik front and Abdullah Agha Peshderi as his assistant, and ordered them to make the Spilik front a defensive line. The government was planning to move from that front to Mergasor. On the night of June 18-19, Mullah Mustafa Barzani headed to the summit of the village of Sefti, located north of the foothills of Mount Pires. This place was previously held by the Iraqi government, so four Hawker Hunter aircraft carried out heavy bombing. As a result, they remained safe. In the meantime, Barzani summoned Mullah Shani, the commander of the battle front, and his assistants to discuss and set the defensive plan. It was decided to reinforce the Peshmerga positions to protect the summit of Mount Pires. By orders from Barzani, a force led by Omar Agha Dolamari headed to the Shush area west of Mount Akre to attack the enemy from the rear. Likewise, a force led by Hadi Hasko headed to Seri Sada north of the Zenta pass to attack the enemy from the east. At the same time, Barzani issued his orders to Colonel Abd al-Kafi Nabawi to reinforce Spilik and increase pressure on the Third Brigade in the Khalifan area, which was besieged at the time by the Peshmerga.
On June 25, 1963, the Iraqi Army launched, with the help of ten thousand mercenaries and supported by two artillery battalions and four squadrons of (MiG and Fury Hawker Hunter) aircraft, a violent attack on Mount Pires. The bombing was as if the entire mountain was burning. In that battle, the Peshmerga did not have enough ammunition, and their weapons were very simple and their artillery shells were few. This is what prompted the leader of the revolution, Mullah Mustafa Barzani, to always insist on holding onto the few ammunition available to them and not wasting them, while most of the weapons were simple and were of the type (Short Lee-Enfield, Dargoo, Brno, Brno machine gun, 60 mm mortar), while the huge logistical capacity available to the government forces still could not be compared. Regarding food for the Peshmerga, one of the Peshmerga who was responsible for delivering food and supplies to the Peshmerga points out that the people of the region were collecting food for the Peshmerga and it consisted mostly of dry bread, kashk, lentils, and bulgur.
The battles on Mount Pires continued after the revolutionaries inflicted heavy damage on the government forces. On June 28, the government was able to seize the mountain. The seizure came after the martyrdom of the commander of the Mount Pires front, Mullah Shani Bidaruni - who was one of Barzani's companions to the Soviet Union - with five Peshmerga members on the evening of Thursday, June 27, due to the heavy bombing at the left summit of the mountain. The Iraqi Army's bombing included a large area, as the Nizar area at the foothills of Mount Pires in the north, and Bruzh at the foothills of Mount Shirin in the south were subjected to intensive and targeted aerial bombardment. Civilians were wounded more than the Peshmerga forces when the attack on Pires began. An attack on the Shush and Sharman area led by Omar Agha Dolamari, the attacking force was defeated with a major defeat and left behind several corpses of the dead. If it were not for Omar Agha's injury, the commander of the government force, Colonel Staff Sha'b Hardan, would have been captured. The aforementioned moved away after being wounded, and Hormoz Malik Jaku took his place. According to a telegram from the army to the First Brigade of the First Division on June 28, they admitted to killing 27 people and wounding 51 others.
It is worth noting that many Peshmerga were martyred and wounded during the heroic defense in the battle of Pires and the other battles that followed, including: Din Kanilinji, Khan Bidaruni, Halki Dolamari, Hussein Muhammad Agha Mergasori, Ahmed Rashashchi, Sheet Sarkiri, Saeed Shirwani, and the martyrdom of others.
Sources:1- Mamkhan Shirwani, Barzan and the Lineage of the Barzanis, (Place of publication not mentioned - 1995).
2- Marwan Salih al-Ma'ruf, Mustafa Barzani: Leader of the Kurdish Liberation Movement, (Haj Hashim Press, Erbil, 2018).
3- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, (Ministry of Education Printing House - 2004).
4- Shakib Aqrawi, Years of Ordeal in Kurdistan, (Directorate of Culture Press - Erbil - 2007).
5- Archive of the Encyclopedia Authority of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
6- Shawkat Mullah Ismail Hassan, Days in the History of the September Revolution, Second Edition, (Tafsir Office - Erbil - 2006).
7- Haji Mirxan Dolamari, Searching for Justice, Volume One, (Place of publication not mentioned - 2021).