The Ba'ath regime tried every method to confront the Kurd revolution. One of the methods it adopted was arming the youth of Kurdistan, organizing them within several special detachments and light battalions (Barzani, 2021, 9). This had several goals, including: pitting Kurds against each other on one hand, and all those who were fleeing military service, instead of joining the ranks of the revolution, would join the ranks of the mercenary armed forces. They participated side by side with the Iraqi Army in all the attacks and raids of the Iraqi Army against the Peshmerga forces, until they became a large part of the state's armed forces. Many military bases and outposts were handed over to these gunmen, and in addition, they had an active participation in the attacks and raids on the areas under the influence of the revolution (Ali, 2016, 71).
On May 25 1987, a large force of mercenary gunmen, supported by tanks, armored vehicles, and bulldozers, attacked the village of Shive in the Guli area, with the intention of demolishing and destroying the aforementioned village and the village of Kurka. Before the start of the attack, government forces began intense shelling in the area.
The Peshmerga forces had taken up positions in the area to confront the government forces. They saw that a convoy of military vehicles and bulldozers were heading towards the village of Shive. A Peshmerga force, which was present in the area to protect the villages and confront the attacks of the government forces, began firing as soon as they saw the government force so that the villagers would be alerted to the government's attack, as it seemed the villagers were unaware of this government attack. Early in the morning, the Peshmerga forces joined with a number of popular resistance members and gathered in the villages of Korke and Kaniata. In that meeting, they set the plan for confronting the attacking force. They were divided into several groups and then went to the village of Shive to stop the attack. When they approached the government forces, the Peshmerga were divided into several points to repel them from several fronts and expand the battlefront (Murad, 2007, 170).
At 8 in the morning, the government forces began their attack towards the village of Shive. The Peshmerga forces resisted them and the battle started intensely. After several RPG shells and bursts of gunfire from the Peshmerga exploded on the advances of the mercenary armed forces, they stopped their advance and could not move forward. Although the battle continued for two hours, the government forces could not hold out, but in a moment, they abandoned the battlefield and fled (Murad, 2007, 170).
The Peshmerga forces were victorious in the battle. In addition to defeating the attack of the government gunmen, they inflicted casualties on them, as the bodies of 4 killed were left on the battlefield. They seized some weapons and ammunition such as: a Russian sniper rifle along with 4 Kalashnikovs, 4 boxes of bullets, one mortar, 10 mortar shells, and the destruction of a bulldozer that they had brought to demolish the houses and homes of the citizens (Murad, 2007, 171).
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.
3- Ali, Nuri Hama, The History of the Struggle of a Peshmerga between Life and Death, Second Edition, Shaha Printing House, Erbil - 2016.