On the date of 11 of September 1961 the first spark of fighting between Aylul Revolution led by President Mustafa Barzani and the Iraq regime began. The Rayat and Galala barracks, where the regime's army forces were located, were seized by the Peshmerga. (Mala Taha) was the person in charge of the force at that time. At that time, people had complete and firm faith in President Mustafa Barzani .
In the month of 9 of the year 1961 a fierce battle broke out near the village of Nawkelan. At that time, my brothers were also participating in the battle. News came, they said that the sons of (Abdullah Goroni) were surrounded, so my father quickly went to their aid to save them. When he reached the scene of the battle, my father reached the front of the battlefield, and there he was wounded by the enemy's bullets. One of our relatives, whose name was (Suleiman), carried him on his back to save him from the enemy, but he too was hit by a bullet from the regime's soldiers that struck his leg, but he did not stop in rescuing my father and saved him from the regime.
They brought our father back to the village wounded. There, in the garden, we prepared a place for him to rest, and all the relatives gathered around him. My father was a very courageous man; he told all his relatives: You must not be afraid, because we have joined the ranks of the revolution, so we may be wounded or killed. Therefore, I ask you, do not let anything discourage you or affect your beliefs, and support the revolution with all your might, because Barzani is a revolutionary man who is loyal to the homeland and his people, so you must support him and obey him.
After the Iraq army approached the area, we moved our father to the village of Koyle, to (Haji Kuikha). In his garden, they prepared a place for him, and all of Haji Kuikha's relatives took turns guarding my father. After 12 days of staying there, due to the severity of his wound and the effect of his injury, he was martyred. Because of the complex situation in the area, we could not bring him back to our own village, so we buried him there, and even now his grave is in the village of Koyle. After my father's martyrdom, an opportunity was given to my brothers to play their roles; each of my brothers Najmadin, Osman, and Hama had a good role in the ranks of the revolution.
After (Mala Taha) visited the area at the request of the Jash (pro-regime militia) of the Batas area, in the year 1963 a hand-to-hand battle took place in the Harir area (Tishi Batase) between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraq regime's army. The Jash forces had asked Mala Taha to visit them. On his way to Tishi Harir, the Jash had set an ambush for the Peshmerga forces. In that battle, three people were martyred; among those martyrs, two were our relatives, both of whom were brothers named (Mustafa and Hassan). After that battle, Mala Taha was removed, and by the order of President Mustafa Barzani someone else came to the area and became the head of the force, whose name was (Colonel Kafi), and he stayed for two years.
Colonel Kafi was a very brave and courageous person; he acted in the same way as the military system, but later he was removed. Some people said that he returned to the Iraq army again.
At that time, people participated in the ranks of the revolution with great conviction. They bought weapons and ammunition for the Peshmerga with their own money. People had a firm belief and certainty in the revolution and Mala Mustafa. People lived very simply. At first, a Peshmerga received five dinars, and he would keep it in his pocket, not knowing what to do with it.
In the year 1974 my brother Osman was martyred along with two other Peshmerga named Mustafa and Omar, which was the last battle between the Peshmerga forces and the Ba'ath regime, because the regime tried very hard to take that area, as it was the Headquarters of Barzani.
Mustafa Goroni's Peshmerga serviceIn the year 1965 I became a Peshmerga. Although I was young at that time, because I was the son of a martyr and Najmadin Goroni my older brother had responsibilities, the commanders respected them a lot, and I also really wanted to become a Peshmerga, so I became a Peshmerga at the Headquarters of Barzani. In winter we set up checkpoints in Qasre and in summer in Haji Omeran. My older brother, whose name was (Hama), was our leader. We were about 40 Peshmerga, and he trusted us a lot because we were at the last checkpoint. If they had passed us, they would have reached the Headquarters of Barzani. Often Barzani would come to us; he was a very normal person, and he was also very respectful and calm.
Martyr Franso Hariri had placed us there because we were trustworthy. We were responsible for allowing everyone through; we had full authority. One day, President Barzani had come to the guard point and stood by the guard. In the Aylul Revolution, I did not have responsibilities because my father and brother had been martyred, so they did not want my duty to be heavy. Until the end of the revolution, we remained in that duty.
Attempt to assassinate President Mustafa BarzaniIn the year 1971 when the attempt to assassinate Barzani was made, I was at the checkpoint at that time. They had a Mullah with them who was from Najaf. He had come to Barzani many times before, but we did not allow them to pass. We asked them to go and bring a document that would give them permission so that we could allow them to pass. After a while, when they returned, they had received permission to pass from Kak Idris, and two guards had come with them, so we allowed them to pass. By the time they reached the Headquarters of Barzani, it was late in the evening.
Mustafa Goroni in the Gulan RevolutionIn the year 1976 we returned to the Balakayati region, at that time my first Peshmerga station began, a comrade said the (Ali Ko) group is in Dolaniene, we also went to them, they said they were busy restarting the revolution, we also decided to go to them, so we arrived at noon, when we arrived for lunch, they gave us hard bread, we asked them what is this, they said by God our situation is very bad, so you must find a solution for us, I said how? They said in Choman there are some sheep and livestock of the Agriculture Department which is close to 500 head, bring them for us, I said that is easy, so we brought those sheep and livestock for them which was worth about 19500 dinars of that time, for that time that amount of money was a lot.
At that time when in the year 1976 we restarted the revolution, we were in detachments, our place was not fixed and our Headquarters was not clear, so we were always moving, we restarted the revolution with very little capability, the people were very helpful and supportive of us, so whatever we asked for, they would fulfill it for us, they supported us with their own bread and their own homes, because the people's homes were the nest of the Peshmerga, although finding daily sustenance was very difficult, because the people were under heavy surveillance, despite that, whatever we asked for, they would fulfill it for us, until the year 1979 we continued the revolution in that way.
In the year 1979 my brother, the martyr Najmadin, returned from southern Iraq, at that time we went back to the Iranian side, there the Democratic Party of Iran was dominant in the region, we also went to the border of their authority, many of our relatives were there, they came to my brother Najmadin and said thank God that you returned safe and sound, we have also come so that you may command us, he also said: whoever does Kurdishness is from the house of Barzani, so we consider them our leaders and heads, the relatives also said: whoever you think is good, we also think is good, so my brother Najmadin made a phone call to Kak Idris, he told him we are waiting for your command, he also in response said: wait, I will send Sami to you and thanked my brother Najmadin very much.
On the third day Kak Sami came to us from the town of Khane in Eastern Kurdistan, when he saw all those Peshmerga who all had good weapons, he was very happy, he said to my brother Kak Najmadin: where did you find all these people? The martyr Najmadin also said they are all my previous Peshmerga. The martyr Sami helped us with some clothes, money, and other Military supplies, and we set up our Headquarters around the city of Khane. The Democratic Party of Iran also had Headquarters in the region, although there was sensitivity from them towards us, but Kak Sami said: whatever they need, help them. At that time, Iran was also trying to return to the region.
When the Iranian government returned to the region, the Democratic Party did not put up any significant resistance, so they returned to the side of Southern Kurdistan, we also at that time lost contact with our leadership, later when we contacted them they said: you also return to the areas of Zewe and Kona Lajan, we also returned to the place they had designated for us, we set up our Headquarters there, we had full coordination with the leadership, although we stayed less on the Iranian side, because we constantly had detachments on the side of Southern Kurdistan, we constantly had Activity, in those activities we obtained good weapons, once in the Balak region there was a crazy officer they called (the crazy officer), we captured a PKM from him, when we took it back to the leadership, it was strange to them that we had those good weapons and that we obtained them.
In the year 1983 my brother, the martyr Najmadin, was the regional official, and I was a member of the region, also I was a battalion commander, our Headquarters were in the Doli Roste region, at that time there was still life in the region, because towards the Sakran region and the Choman areas and the people had been displaced.
Some Activity of the Gulan RevolutionOur first Activity was in Gulan Revolution, I and the comrades who were with me carried it out in Kani Gulinan below the village of Rayat, it was that we hit a jeep of their command, it had an officer and 2 two Military of the regime in it, in that Activity we captured three Kalashnikovs and a pistol. Later for a while we went to the Doli Roste region, after we stayed there for a long time, we returned to the Choman region.
Our second Activity we did in Nawprdan, near Nawprdan there was a guard post, we set an ambush for them, in that ambush we killed two Military and an officer whose name was (Khalaf), on the strap of his Kalashnikov the name (Officer Khalaf) was written, in that Activity we obtained three Kalashnikovs.
Later we returned to the village of Goroni which was my own village, the regime had created a lot of military mobilization, since the people were very helpful and supportive of us, whatever news there was, it would reach us as quickly as possible, we, with the help and support of the masses, had no fear, because we were trained with iron belief, our belief in our leadership was firm.
When we returned to the village of Goroni, the next day; that morning we received news that a heavy battle had broken out in the (Doli Balayan) region, upon receiving the news, we went up to the top of the village of Walze, we saw that there was a heavy battle between the Peshmerga and the Ba'ath regime, in the end the battle ended with the victory of the Peshmerga, the regime's army was broken, if we had intended, we would have chased them more. In that battle, the people supported the Peshmerga a lot and helped the Peshmerga in every way and with every kind of thing, from bringing bread and food, bullets, water and all other supplies, the women helped the Peshmerga side by side with their men, a large amount of weapons and ammunition fell into the hands of the people and we did not take any weapons from the people.
The government tried to capture the Balayan Valley, but it always failed, until news came saying that the government had decided to bombard us with chemical weapons. We returned to the Qandil area, and from there to the Iranian side, but Iran brought aircraft over us. I took my own family to the Balayan Valley, then we returned to our area once again. In all places, the special detachments resumed their Activity.
In the year 1977 when I went back to the village, they said that people were being relocated. We, along with my comrades, were hiding near the village. At night, we went back into the village. When I returned to my own house, they had burned the house down. My family, along with my three children and my mother, had remained there, they were inside the ruins of the house. I comforted them and said: Do not worry, you go. The next morning we went back to the mountains.
The many battles and Activities had harassed the government, so it was very fearful. We were constantly on patrol and going among the people. We comforted the people and said: It is true that the revolution has suffered a setback, but this is not the end of our national struggle, rather we are restarting the revolution. This revolution must become a source of goodness and blessing for all the people of Kurdistan. You must be our supporters and helpers and assist us in terms of information and all other needs, so that we can be the continuation of the September Revolution.
In most of the battles, I participated alongside my brother, the Martyr Najmadin. At two-thirty in the afternoon, we set an ambush in the Qubai of Galala and fought a hand-to-hand battle with the regime's army. In that battle, we achieved victory; in that battle, we captured several weapons. At that time, we belonged to Branch Two; (Khurshid Shira) was the branch head. A year later, (Muhammad Malla Qadir) became the branch head; he was a very brave and fearless man. As the Balak force and the Balak area, we had a good force, and we also had good weapons and ammunition. Together with the branch, we would go on patrol to various areas of Kurdistan.
Around the month of August 1977 in the Sakrayati area (Dolani), we were hiding in a poplar orchard. The government had received information, so it had surrounded us. We also received information that the government had surrounded us. We consulted with our comrades on what to do: should we fight a battle of life or death, or should we escape? So we decided to escape using tactics in two groups. We told all our comrades that one group would fight, and the other would escape, until later it would provide protection for the others for their escape. In that battle, we killed several Iraqi soldiers. In the end, we escaped by a miracle, but one of our Peshmerga, whose name was (Mahmud Saida), went missing. We tried very hard to rescue him, but we received no information about what happened to him. For several nights, with the intention of searching for that comrade of ours, we returned to the Nawparda side. The people were surprised at how we had come back here, because that area was full of Iraqi army soldiers. Later, unfortunately, we received information that (Mahmud Saida) had been martyred and had been buried right there under a walnut tree.
In another battle, in the year 1980 in the Zarwa area of the Manjalayati Valley, we set an ambush. In that battle, there were two military ZIL trucks that were full of soldiers; we killed all the soldiers and they went into the river water.
In the year 1983 the Headquarters of Branch 2 and the district were in the village of Rosti. Muhammad Malla Qadir was the branch head. People respected us a lot, and they were very helpful and cooperative with us. The headquarters of several other parties, such as the Communist Party and the Socialist Party, were also there, but the people had more coordination with us because we were concerned with their affairs and were always helping them with social problems and all the work they had. We were coordinated with the other parties regarding all developments and events and we held meetings together.
In the year 1983 Iran attacked at Haji Omaran. The leadership of the revolution informed us to notify the people so that they would not get caught in the battle. In that attack they made, their decision and plan was to capture up to the border of the city of Soran and Diana. But without knowing the reason, they stopped the attack. Kak Idris contacted me; why did they stop the attacks? When we asked them: Why are you not attacking? They would say: Our superiors know. They would not reveal any information. At that time, Kak Idris was in the Sibara Valley, and we were in the Ena area. At that time, they stopped the battle. They told us: You return to Iran, that is all. We told Kak Idris that they were saying such things, and he also said: Return. So we returned.
The issue of the map of Kurdistan
Our Headquarters was in Badinawa near Khana. We had an Iranian friend. One day we had invited him to the Headquarters. When he came to the Headquarters, he saw the map of Kurdistan that we had previously hung in the Headquarters. He was very worried and upset. He said: Brother Mustafa, what is this?! You have betrayed us. In response, I said: We do not betray anyone, but on the contrary, people have oppressed us. It was clear that he was very annoyed, so my superiors told me: What have you done? It turned out that he had complained that I had hung the map of Greater Kurdistan. I said: How can you say that? Is it not the case that other people are openly betraying you, but you do not say anything to them? In my response, he said in Persian: (Brother Mustafa, Brother Hashemi knows what he is doing, by God, he will bring out the father and mother of Jalal). You have the nature of gold; sometimes it rises and sometimes it falls.
The relationship between the Party and the people during the era of the Gulan Revolution
From the year 1984 until the end of the Iran-Iraq war, our Headquarters was in the Rosti Valley. Many people helped us, especially the young people. Also, many of those who worked within our organizations, we would send them to Erbil, Soran, and all places to build a network of relationship between us and the people.
People were very annoyed by the behavior of the other parties, because they had set up checkpoints in Smilan. They were collecting taxes from the people who came from Diana to transport the produce of their gardens, and the people were very upset by this behavior of theirs. Based on that, we sat down with them and told them that what you are doing is very inappropriate, because the people are their own masters, there is no need for you to collect taxes from them, so we resolved this issue through sitting and discussion.
Martyr Najmadin was the district official, Mamosta Abdulrahman was the district administrator, and each of Agha Dolanayi, Abdullah Rash, Mushir Gwani, and Ahmad Khalani, along with myself, were members of the district. We were very harmonious and united with each other, and we were very coordinated with each other. We often went to the Khoshnawati region with the branch 2. Once, we captured 12 outposts in one night. We gave one martyr, his name was (Abdullah).
There was good coordination and harmony between the leadership and the lower levels. We informed our superiors of everything, and whenever we wanted, we could see Kak Idris and our leader. Especially Kak Idris, he had a lot of trust in me and entrusted all his secret work to me. I, in return, did not neglect it and carried it all out. Both of them had strong charismatic qualities. There were many times when the Peshmerga were annoyed; they would say we are going to Kak Idris to get permission to quit. When they went to him with the intention of quitting, but when they came out, they were much more enthusiastic about the struggle for the sake of the homeland and the cause. Kak Idris had more relations with Iran. Once, the Kurdish parties (Kurdistan Front) had a meeting with Khomeini. In that meeting, Khomeini had said that the name of the Kurd is not in the Quran, Idris Barzani had answered Khomeini. Nawshirwan was also in that meeting. Later, he told Kak Idris, 'Truly, you gave a good answer to Khomeini, so what can be done by you cannot be done by anyone else; you are worthy of everything.'
The role of the Peshmerga and the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the uprising of the year 1991
We returned to Kurdistan from the border of Ranya city, and we had a direct participation in encouraging and inciting the people to start the uprising. From there, we went to Erbil. When we reached the city of Erbil, we fought several battles, because when we entered Erbil, the army forces and the regime's gunmen were still there, so we fought them several times until we were able to completely clear the city of Erbil, but unfortunately, several of our Peshmerga comrades were martyred and wounded.
After we were able to clear Erbil, we decided to prepare a good force so that we could head towards the city of Kirkuk as well. After we completely cleared the city of Kirkuk of the regime's army, there were regime army forces in the Khalid military base (Muaskar Khalid), but we were able to drive them out. We did not have much knowledge of the city, although we had secret organizations, but a person does not come by himself to say that I was in the secret organization. The force retreated completely to Erbil, and the regime's force returned once again to the town of Prde, which is located between the city of Kirkuk and Erbil.
After that, we gathered a force of (1000) thousand armed men. We launched a counter-attack against the enemy, but because our force was not entirely a fighting force, but rather people had come who were not even Peshmerga, so the flight and defeat of those people had an impact on the morale of the Peshmerga. Despite the fact that we had several martyrs and wounded, we retreated from the battle to Erbil. At that time, several foreign journalists were there and told me to take them to the front line. I took them, they shot at us, but we were not hit by any bullets and we returned to Erbil. That very evening, people were leaving, and that was when the exodus began and the Iraqi regime's army was advancing. People, for fear of their lives and the safety of their families and children, were leaving their homes and setting off towards an unknown place. The roads were very crowded, it looked like the Day of Judgment. The people were very distressed and confused. I turned to both officials, the KDP force which was (Mamosta Mahamadi Mala Qadir) and (Hassan Kuistani), the official of the PUK force, and I said to them, 'Mamosta, what is this lack of planning? These people are leaving Erbil without a fight.' He replied, 'Kak Mustafa, the situation is beyond that, what can we control? We can't do anything.'
That was when we left Erbil and returned to Pirmam. We set up our defense point there, but the regime's cannons and tanks were slowly advancing, and we wanted to prevent the regime's army from advancing, so we resisted in every way. At that time, one of our Peshmerga was captured by the enemy while wounded, whose name was (Haji Tayib Faqi Ali). We did not hold our ground, we came to Kore and set up our headquarters in Sarmaydan of Shaqlawa, but the situation was getting worse and more difficult, because the people, for fear of the regime's revenge, were abandoning everything they had, just to protect their dignity, they were heading towards the borders and leaving their fate to destiny. They were very difficult days; hunger and lack of resources had tightened around the people and even the Peshmerga forces. For the purpose of finding food, I returned from there to Soran district. In the city of Rawanduz, I found some food supplies for our headquarters that we had set up in Sarmaydan of Shaqlawa.
The Battle of KoreWhen I returned to the battlefronts, our forces were at the Kore gate. The KDP force had the chain of hills that were above the town of Kore in its hands, and the PUK force was on the other side, which is Sheraswar near the village of Hujran. Hamid Afandi and Kosrat were jointly supervising the planning of the enemy's design. Although I had returned after the first battle had been fought, many of the prominent leaders were there, including Hali Dolamari and Dr. Saeed, who had fought the battle and had been able to set up a strong defensive line and had broken the enemy's tanks.
After I returned to the front line, Hamid Effendi saw me and said, 'Now I have no more worries.' I replied, 'Teacher, that is not what is needed; what is needed is for us to do our duty.' The place where the tanks were positioned, which is the entrance to the town of Kore near Hujran, was where our ambushes were located, and our headquarters were in the village of Hujran. We stayed there for several days.
It was early in the morning when shooting started. One of my nephews was in an ambush, and I quickly went to his aid. When I arrived, one of my Peshmerga was wounded on the road. The force that was on the mountain abandoned their positions. I said to Hamid Effendi, 'Teacher, didn't I tell you the place is very sensitive? Put good people there.' He replied, 'Keep an eye on this place, let me see if I can bring a good force here.' People were increasingly heading towards Shaqlawa and the borders for fear of the Ba'ath regime's retaliation. At that moment, the regime's tanks appeared towards the Peshmerga forces, and Yunis Khidr Zahir appeared there with several people with him. They came to our aid, and we established a defensive line with our forces. In that battle, we were able to completely prevent the regime's army from advancing, stopped the attack, and blew up one of the tanks, which was a very new tank.
In that battle, another one of my Peshmerga, whose name was Aso Baban, was wounded and lost a leg. Then the fighting stopped, negotiations with the regime began, and the President, leading a delegation of the Kurdistan Front, headed to Baghdad. From time to time, there was fighting here and there because the regime's army returned to its positions and re-established its military bases.