In the series of battles of the Great September Revolution between the Peshmerga forces of Kurdistan and the Iraqi army, a major battle broke out in the Pir Magrun region on April 28, 1965 and continued until May 12 of the same year. These battles were in the Pir Magrun region of Sulaymaniyah Governorate between the Iraqi army, led by Brigadier General Zaki Hussein Hilmi, the commander of the Iraqi army, and Tariq Ahmed, the commander of the Peshmerga forces. These battles continued for a long time.

Preparations

To attack the Peshmerga forces’ positions, the Iraqi government prepared two brigades of its army with approximately three thousand Kurdish mercenaries and hired gunmen and two thousand Arab tribesmen and flatterers to attack the Peshmerga forces in the areas of Pir Magrun, especially with the aim of occupying the headquarters of the Rizgari forces in the village of Zewa. This was the first stage of the Iraqi army’s plan, and in the second stage was the advance towards the Sarakhia areas in the Jafaiti region.

The Peshmerga began their counter-attack

After the attack began towards the Peshmerga positions, the Iraqi army initially succeeded in achieving its objectives in some places, and was able to occupy the village of Ziwa and part of the Peshmerga forces’ positions in the Pir Magrun area and remove them from the control of the Peshmerga forces. However, this success achieved by the army did not last long, as a counter-attack began by the Peshmerga, and they were able to recover all the areas that they had lost from the Iraqi army and bring them back under the control of the Peshmerga forces.

The Iraqi army suffered heavy losses in these battles, and in addition to its inability to achieve its objective, this defeat meant that this was the last time it was able to attack the region.

Source:

1- Archives of the Encyclopedia Authority of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.