During the Gulan Revolution, the Peshmerga forces were organized within the framework of the party organization such as branches, areas, and organizations (Gardi, 2021, 269). In November 1986, a Peshmerga force affiliated with the Zakho Area Committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party conducted a tour to the Guli area for some organizational work and strengthening the ranks of the members and supporters of the revolution. During that tour, they visited the villages of Barhole, Blejane, and Korka. As soon as they reached the area, they held a meeting. In that meeting, it was decided that a guerrilla activity should be carried out during that same tour and the Peshmerga should attack the forces of the Ba'ath regime's army. On the other hand, the voice and color of the revolution should be spread more within the area and the government institutions. In the meeting, it was decided that an experienced person should be assigned to identify a suitable place to carry out the activity. For this purpose, Sado Korki and several Peshmerga were assigned to carry out this important activity (Murad, 2007, 167).
The meeting ended, and the group of Peshmerga assigned to identify the location of the activity carried out their work. In the dark of night, they set off towards the village of Gre Bie and reached the main road of Beranshe Mountain. They thought it was a very suitable place, as it was on the main road, and the Iraqi Army's military vehicles were constantly passing through it. By setting up an ambush, they could strike them and inflict damage on them. After they identified the location, they returned to their force and reported all the information to them. After discussing the identified location, it was approved by the Peshmerga officials, because Sado Korki was experienced and they believed it would be a successful and productive activity. Then they met about how to plan and set up the ambush and conduct the attack (Murad, 2007, 167).
The revolution force consisted of 75 Peshmerga. They drew up the battle plan in such a way that it was necessary to station defensive and confrontation forces on several fronts, to repel those government forces if they had the intention of attacking the scene of the incident, and also so that the Peshmerga force setting the ambush would not face any problems or confrontations. To implement this plan, a force was designated to monitor the Beranshe summit outpost and another outpost called Siarka Spi from above the main road, so that in any event of movement from those two outposts, that force would repel them and not let them harass the ambush site. Another front consisted of a force that, before the ambush site, if a government vehicle came, they would be the first to fire at it and confuse it when it reached the ambush site. Another front consisted of establishing a group of Peshmerga opposite the Beranshe base outpost, so that when the battle started, they would not let the soldiers come out of the outpost and fire at the ambush site. A third front was a force of Peshmerga assigned opposite the headquarters of the area's military company, which was located east of the village of Gre Bie, so that they also could not come out of the outpost, lest they put pressure on the ambush site. That is how the battle plan was carried out (Murad, 2007, 168).
The Peshmerga force set off towards the village of Kaniata on the evening of November 14 1976. The people of the village welcomed them warmly. The Peshmerga were distributed among the houses for dinner, and it was like that at that time, because the Peshmerga's food was provided by the villagers, and the people of the villages of Kurdistan were helping the Peshmerga in every way.
The Peshmerga stayed in the village until 2:15 at night, then they went to the village of Shive and gathered at (Kania Ava Tika). Then each group and squad set off towards its designated point, as they had agreed in the plan. As each group and squad reached their location, they began preparing and fortifying their position, waiting for the arrival of the military vehicle, until the horizon was bright and the sun rose. Every Peshmerga was fortified in their designated place. At 8:30 in the morning of November 15 1986, a military vehicle of the Jeep Qiyada type came from the Batifa Brigade and reached the Peshmerga ambush. Suddenly, the battle started from all four fronts. In a short time, the vehicle was destroyed and seized. An officer and two soldiers were inside, all three were killed, and the vehicle caught fire (Murad, 2007, 168). In most of the Peshmerga activities that were carried out by ambush, the government forces suffered heavy human and material losses in the killing of soldiers and the burning of their vehicles (Barzani, 2021, 96).
The Peshmerga's gains in that battle consisted of seizing three Kalashnikov-type weapons and some military equipment. The battle lasted for two and a half hours, the main road was closed, and traffic stopped. The Peshmerga force was unharmed in that activity, and their activity ended successfully. Then they left the place and withdrew to the village of Kaniata (Murad, 2007, 168).
Sources:1- Barzani, Masoud, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Four, 1975-1990 Gulan Revolution, Part Two, First Edition, Roxana Printing House, 2021.
2- Murad, Muhammad, Mountain Struggle, Memories and Events of the Gulan Revolution between the years (176-1989), Kurdistan Printing House – Zakho, 2007.
2- Gardi, Ghazi Adel, A Peshmerga in the Service of the Barzani Path, Haji Birokhi, Volume Two, Second Edition, Turkey - 2021.