Ahmad Awa is a beautiful tourist area located in the Zalm Valley, which is affiliated with the Khurmal sub-district in Halabja province. It is located 84 km east of Sulaymaniyah city. During the Gulan Revolution, this area witnessed many battles and Peshmerga raids in which they attacked the military and armed bases, headquarters, and outposts of the Iraqi government. As a result, they inflicted fatal blows on them and whispered into their ears the message of the vitality of the revolution, the defense of the freedom rights of the people of Kurdistan, and the implementation of democracy.
The Peshmerga forces of Kurdistan drew up a solid plan on July 1, 1987, to attack several military points of the Iraqi Army and armed forces affiliated with the government, with the aim of carrying out a major partisan activity in Ahmad Awa and Hana-i Qol. After completing the preparations for the activity, the Peshmerga forces launched a major attack on the army and mercenary gunmen and the National Army (Jaysh al-Sha'abi) in that area. Within a specified period, they were able to seize a regiment of mercenary gunmen (Jash), a regiment of the Iraqi Army, and the headquarters of a National Army company that existed in the area.
In that Peshmerga attack, the Iraqi government forces suffered very heavy losses, consisting of hundreds killed and wounded. In addition, nearly 220 soldiers and gunmen from the government forces were taken prisoner. The revolution's gain in that battle was a large amount of weapons and military supplies, consisting of nearly a thousand pieces of various weapons. It is worth mentioning that the area remained in the hands of the Peshmerga for two days, after which they retreated and left the place. After dealing a fatal blow to the Iraqi government forces in that battle, the Peshmerga forces were not without losses; seven Peshmerga were martyred, by the names of Sardar Haji Hussein, Sheikh Kamil Faryasi, Gharib Dolasuri, Ali Mala, Kawa Darbandi, Qadir Jabar, and Hassan Marf.
Clearly, the existence of such battles by the revolutionary forces had a major positive impact on the morale of the Peshmerga, especially in terms of self-confidence and a sense of responsibility. At the same time, it was a major defeat for the army and government gunmen, who possessed a large force of advanced weapons, to suffer heavy human and material losses in every battle.
Sources:
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Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Four, 1975-1990 Gulan Revolution, Part Two, First Edition, Roxana Printing House, 2021.
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Ahmad Awa https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D
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Nuri Hama Ali, History of the Struggle of a Peshmerga Between Life and Death, Second Edition, Shahab Printing House, Erbil - 2016.