After the end of the negotiations between the leadership of the Aylul Revolution and the Iraqi government, the Iraqi government backed down from the terms and articles contained in the agreement. It imposed war on Kurdistan once again. Matters developed and worsened to the point that they entered the stage of military confrontations. In April 1974, the Iraqi Army's attacks on Kurdistan began. The attacks began after the army gathered all its military capabilities of soldiers and hundreds of modern tanks, along with all types of air weapons in order to eliminate the revolution.  

Before the start of the battle, the Kurdistan Peshmerga Forces took a set of steps as a reaction, preparation, and response to the expected Iraqi Army attack. Among them was the Third Battalion - Surdash belonging to the Rizgari force, and this battalion besieged the Susi camp, where the headquarters of an Iraqi Army military unit was located. In May 1974, the Iraqi government tried to break the Peshmerga siege on this camp, and the army moved from Sulaymaniyah and Dukan towards the area. The Peshmerga Forces consisted of the Third Battalion belonging to the Rizgari forces led by Anwar Azur, and a plan was set to respond to the Iraqi Army's attack on the Sulaymaniyah-Dukan road.

The Kuykha Smail Talan Company took its positions and fortified itself in the village of Kanikhan, and the Abdullah Haji Rashid Company in Tasluja. As for the Omar Hama Ali Company, it was placed on alert at the village of Kelwanan. The battalion headquarters was in the village of Khra Ziewi, and as for the Hama Tal Haji Qadirbek Company, it was in full readiness to repel the attack at the village of Khra Ziewi. 

 

The Iraqi Army set off from Sulaymaniyah and began the attack. It was confronted by the Abdullah Haji Rashid Company, which was entrenched in Tasluja, and bloody clashes occurred between the two sides. The Peshmerga Forces were able to inflict heavy losses on the ranks of the Iraqi Army soldiers, but the Peshmerga could not resist for a long time due to the massive size of the forces of soldiers and tanks, and the small number of Peshmerga compared to the number of soldiers, especially after the martyrdom of the company commander Abdullah Haji Rashid and the platoon commander Sheikh Jaafar Kuliji. The Peshmerga Forces withdrew from the site, and the Iraqi Army continued its advance, targeting the Susi camp.  

After the Iraqi Army crossed the defensive lines of the Peshmerga Forces in Tasluja with the support of tanks and mercenaries (Jash) and continued its advance towards the Susi camp, it thought that there was no defensive line for the Peshmerga in front of it. However, it was surprised when the Peshmerga Forces, at a distance of (6) kilometers from the Susi camp, launched an attack on the army and were able to destroy two tanks using an RPG weapon and kill a number of soldiers and Jash. The Peshmerga Forces did not allow the army to reach the besieged camp, but after the martyrdom of two of their comrades (Ibrahim Kani Shaitan and Rahim Qamish) and the wounding of the battalion commander, and in order not to leave the bodies of the two martyrs on the battlefield and not to have them fall into the hands of the army and to transport them to the rear positions, the Peshmerga Forces withdrew. Thus, the road became open for the Iraqi Army to break the siege of the Susi camp. 

Sources:

  1. Sangar Ibrahim Khoshnaw: Military Events of the Aylul Revolution 1970-1975, First Edition, Daneshfar Press, Erbil, 2022.

  2. Shawkat Mulla Ismail Hassan: Days in the History of the Aylul Revolution, 1961-1975, Ministry of Education Press, Erbil – 2007.

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