The summer of 1963 was a hot and bloody season, and a difficult and harsh situation was passing over Kurdistan. The Iraqi government threw all its forces into the war against the Kurd, because it interpreted it as a decisive war and hoped to destroy the revolution and exterminate the Kurdish people, and to make whoever remained submissive and subjugated. To implement that plan, the government launched brutal attacks and raids with all its ground and air military power against Kurdistan, burning everything green and dry together. It also began bombing villages and towns, burning agricultural crops and natural forests, and imposing an economic blockade. It sent the most brutal army into cities and towns for torture and mass intimidation.

These actions were carried out by the Ba'ath regime led by Abdul Salam Arif, who took power in Iraq through a coup on February 8, 1963. With this, a new phase in the history of Iraq began. Although at the beginning of their rule, they started a kind of dialogue and negotiation with the leadership of the revolution to resolve the Kurdish issue, the talks did not last more than four months. On June 10, 1963, the attacks and raids on the areas of the revolution began.   

The Peshmerga force of Kurdistan was always on alert to repel the attacks and defend, and sometimes in response to the army's raids, it carried out various activities. One of those activities of the Qaradagh Peshmerga force was the battle of the Daradwina stream bridge on the main road between Maydan and Darbandikhan on July 15, 1963, when they received news of the passage of an Iraqi Army convoy via the (Jalawla – Darbandikhan) road towards Baghdad. They decided to block the road below Darbandikhan to that army convoy and carry out a Peshmerga activity. They planned the battle as follows: 

  • A Peshmerga force under the command of Muhammad Haji Wali Kalari was assigned to take the heights of Qatra mountain so that they would not allow the Iraqi Army to flank them from the Maydan military base. 

  • A group of Peshmerga was assigned the task of taking the mountain behind the village of Bani Khilan so that they would also not allow the army to advance from the Darbandikhan military base and take the Gulan heights.

  • Another group was on alert below the village of Bani Khilan.

  • Another force under the command of Aziz Qazi was stationed near the Daradwina stream bridge on the main road, waiting for the arrival of the army convoy.

There were also several trenches on the heights near the main road. At the times when the army convoy passed through it, they would send a group of mercenary gunmen (Jash) to those trenches to protect the main road, and they were also under the surveillance of the Peshmerga. 

At 9:00 AM on July 15, 1963, the Iraqi Army convoy reached the bridge. The Peshmerga first fired at the mercenary (Jash) gunmen and killed 3 of their gunmen; the others abandoned the trenches, fled, and left their dead bodies behind. The army soldiers began an attack to retake the trenches. In the meantime, a hot battle began. The soldiers could not retake the trenches, but several of their soldiers were killed. A force of the army and mercenaries attacked the heights behind Qatra; there, the Peshmerga struck them and in a short time defeated them. 3 mercenary (Jash) gunmen were killed in that place and their bodies were left on the battlefield. Another Iraqi military force from the Darbandikhan military base attacked Gulan mountain to support the military convoy; they fell into a Peshmerga ambush, several of their soldiers were killed, and they returned to their military base. 

The battle continued until 5:00 PM. Both the Maydan and Darbandikhan military bases and the mercenary gunmen of the Nawroli tribe participated in the battle. That day, the Iraqi Army convoy could not pass and returned to the base, but the next day they were able to escape. According to the information that reached the Peshmerga in that battle, the losses of the government forces consisted of the killing of 40 soldiers, two Officers, and 6 mercenary (Jash) gunmen. On the side of the revolution force, only one Peshmerga was slightly wounded.                      

      

Sources:

1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, Aylul Revolution 1961-1975, First Edition – Erbil, 2004.

2- Ibrahim Jalal, Southern Kurdistan and the Aylul Revolution: Foundation and Collapse 1961-1975, Fourth Edition, 2021.

3- Shawkat Mullah Ismail Hassan, Days in the History of Aylul Revolution, Ministry of Education Press, First Edition, Erbil - 2007.

4- Hawkar Karim Hama Sharif, Aylul Revolution, Salahaddin University Press, First Edition, Erbil – 2012.

5- Khoshawi Ali Kanyelnji, Memoirs of Aziz Qazi Surchi, Daneshfar Press, First Edition, Erbil – 2023.