In June 1963, the Iraqi government intensified its efforts to end the Kurdish revolution by resuming its attacks on the revolution's areas throughout Kurdistan, after the Iraqi Army and collaborators (Jash) seized the Akre front and Mount Bêrs. The commander of the Peshmerga Forces (Mullah Shini) and five Peshmerga members were martyred as a result of the heavy shelling and attacks, which negatively affected the morale of the Peshmerga. The Peshmerga Forces evacuated these positions and retreated towards Bêlê and Rêzan to build another defensive line to prevent the Iraqi Army from entering Barzan, which was about reaching and destroying.

In 31 July 1963, the First Division of the Iraqi Army, consisting of the First and Fourth Brigades, participated with the participation of 7000 collaborators (Jash) from the Zebari, Surchi, Guran, Herki, Sherwani, Yazidi, Kucher, and Barwari tribes. They marched from the foothills of Mount Bêrs to Bêlê, crossed the Great Zab, seized Bêlê and its surroundings, and settled on both sides of the river. At that time, the Barzani Headquarters was in the Dalaş Valley east of the village of Sifta, where the Iraqi Army shelled the headquarters with several warplanes to besiege it and arrest the leader of the revolution, Mustafa Barzani, and Masoud Barzani who was accompanying him. And 15 of his Peshmerga guards. But they were able to resist them, defend themselves, and survive the attack of the army and the collaborators (Jash).

At this moment, a message arrived from the Iraqi Army to the revolution's leadership that the Iraqi Army intended to attack Barzan on 4 August. Barzani ordered the establishment of a defensive line in Mili Sariji between Bêlê and Barzan to prevent the Iraqi Army from entering and destroying Barzan, and for the government to achieve its intentions. Because Barzani himself was there and directly supervised the fighting. He appointed the Peshmerga commander Hussein Mirgasori to take responsibility for the defensive line, provided that they hold their positions in Mili Sariji and prevent the army from reaching Barzan.

Hussein Mirgasori assigned the Peshmerga groups and divided them into positions, waiting for zero hour. Before the attack began, the government shelled the Peshmerga positions with artillery and aircraft for a day and a night, then on the morning of 4 August 1963, they attacked the Peshmerga positions with all kinds of heavy and light weapons. The Peshmerga Forces confronted them with the light weapons they possessed, including machine guns and a number of British Brno rifles.

After 10 hours of fighting, the Peshmerga Forces were able to defeat the army and the collaborators and inflicted heavy losses on them, estimated at dozens of dead and wounded. They left the bodies of 40 dead on the battlefield, but among the Peshmerga Forces, Hussein Mirgasori, the Peshmerga commander, and three Peshmerga were martyred, and another was wounded.

Two days later, on 6 August, the government forces headed east to seize Rêzan, another arm of the defensive line led by Uzêr Dolamari, Omar Agha Dolamari, and Hali Dolamari, who were accompanied by about 200 Peshmerga. After heavy shelling around the Rêzan bridge, the army and the collaborator forces began to advance towards the bridge. The Peshmerga hid in their positions until the soldiers and collaborators reached the bridge and some of them crossed, then the Peshmerga began the attack. The soldiers and collaborators were confused, their ranks were broken, their attack was shattered, and they fled. This time they left the bodies of 36 dead on the battlefield; 14 of them fell into the Great Zab and were swept away by the water. 

The Peshmerga Forces on this battle front had one mortar with a size of (3) inches and in their hands were 12 shells, of which 6 were fired at the enemy and 6 others were kept. But luckily for the Peshmerga, the first shell hit a group of collaborators (Jash) and killed some of them, creating a miserable situation for the army and the collaborators.

After the failure of the government forces in this attack, they prepared for another attack on the village of Hostan east of Barzan. The Peshmerga forces under the leadership of Sako Kanyalnji, who replaced Hussein Mirgasori, along with other Peshmerga officials, established a defensive line. They promised to prevent the government army from carrying out its plans, and at first, the Iraqi Army began, as always, with heavy shelling and airstrikes. Then on the morning of 8 August 1963, they launched a wide attack, but the Peshmerga Forces repelled the Iraqi Army's attack again and quickly defeated the attack and destroyed their dreams, so they fled the battlefield with dozens of dead and wounded. The Peshmerga Forces had only one Martyr and two wounded.

After this attack on 10 August and the following days, the Iraqi Army and the collaborators (Jash) launched two attacks on the heights located behind the village of Asta to control the village of Rêzan. But they failed in both attacks, and were severely defeated, killed, and wounded, in addition to the capture of 4 soldiers. It is worth noting that Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan revolution, was always supervising the fighting in this epic. The Iraqi government continued fighting and attacking in revenge for all the recent defeats it had suffered. They had nothing left but to constantly shell Barzan and the neighboring villages until they were destroyed. 

After the defeat and heavy losses on the Barzan and Sherwan battle fronts that the Iraqi Army suffered, the situation of the Iraqi Army deteriorated extremely, so Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Faisal Ansari, commander of the Second Division in the border of Jama and Sherwan Mazin, informed the Chief of Staff (Tahir Yahya) and proposed a peaceful solution. The Chief of Staff expressed no objection and informed them to contact Sheikh Ahmed Barzani, the Sheikh of Barzan. On 22 September 1963, Ansari sent a message to Sheikh Ahmed through Saeed Asad Shitni, asking him to send a delegation to him and to the Governor of Erbil to negotiate and reach an agreement. After consulting with the leader of the revolution, Mustafa Barzani, Sheikh Ahmed decided to respond to Ansari with a letter.

As a result of the talks that took place between Sheikh Ahmed and the Iraqi government, which called for the disarmament of the Barzanis, Sheikh Ahmed called on the government to withdraw the army and the collaborators (Jash). As a result of the agreement between them, Barzani left Barzan on 10 October 1963 at the request of Sheikh Ahmed and arrived in Soran and Balakayati. The government military attack on the Barzan region was lifted and peace prevailed in the region.

Sources:

  • Hozhin Masoud Sarni: The September Revolution in the Behdinan Region 1061- 1975, First Edition, 2018.

  • Haji Mirxan Dolamari: Searching for Justice, Volume One, Second Edition, Isra Press, Tehran, 2021.

  • Masoud Barzani: Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, September Revolution 1961-1975, Ed: First 2004.

  • Wali Zubair Hostan: Some Events and Incidents in the Revolutions and Uprisings of Barzan, Ed: First, Rojhalat Press, Erbil, 2017.

  • Karwan Johar Muhammad: Idris Barzani 1944- 1987 Life and Political and Military Role in the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Hevi Press, Erbil, 2019.

  • Ghazi Adil Gardi: A Peshmerga in the Service of the Barzani Path, Haji Birokhi, Volume One, Second Edition, Turkey, 2021.

  • Hashim Sherwani: The Barzan Region, Geography-History-Culture, First Edition, Ministry of Culture Press, Erbil, 2008.