After the setback of the Aylul Revolution, the Peshmerga and the military leaders of the revolution took refuge in Iran, but this never meant the end of the struggle for freedom and independence for Kurdistan; rather, preparations began once again to resume the revolution. In August 1979, the Peshmerga forces were returned to Badinan to activate the party organizations, and upon their return, their mission was to inspect the villages to revive the secret organization and carry out Peshmerga activities (1). As is clear, the Peshmerga forces had been organized during that period within the party organization of branches, local committees, and organizations (2).
In the month of May 1981, a force of Peshmerga from the Martyr Shahyaz Salih and Martyr Mahmoud Yusuf organizations, belonging to the Zakho Local Committee, arrived to perform a tour in the villages of the Batifa area and carry out a mission for the revolution. They arrived on the 25 of the same month at the village of Minina. When night fell, some of the Peshmerga forces headed to the village of Khizava to buy food and daily necessities. The village was close to the surveillance of the Ba'athist regime's military forces, so the Peshmerga forces were carefully distributed into three groups in order to protect themselves in case they were exposed to the military force. For this purpose, one group went to a place called Jam Jahwar, the second group to another place called Framok, and the third group was distributed around one of the shops in the village to buy goods and supplies (3).
At this moment, they saw that they were surrounded by a force from the Iraqi Army, so they rushed to inform each other of the situation, and the Iraqi Army soldiers quickly opened fire on the Peshmerga, and a fierce fight broke out between them. The soldiers attacked the Peshmerga who were trapped in the shop, and about four to five soldiers were hit by the fire of the Peshmerga's rifles and they all fell to the ground. As the soldiers fired, fires broke out in the citizens' houses. It is clear that the wounding of the soldiers who attacked the shop gave the Peshmerga an opportunity to gather and strengthen their defenses, but at this time, all the forces that surrounded the village attacked the Peshmerga. Meanwhile, other military forces from the Batifa Brigade and Sahl Ji arrived at the scene to support their forces.
When the Peshmerga forces saw the situation in this way, and the presence of a large number of soldiers in the village and that another force was coming to help them, they decided to break the siege and escape. They escaped through the rooftops of the houses and the alleys of the village and reached their other comrades who had previously settled in two places, then they all escaped together and returned to their places safely (4).
Sources:1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Four, 1975-1990 Gulan Revolution, Part Two, First Edition, (Ruxana Press - 2021).
2- Muhammad Murad, Khabata Chia, Memoirs and Events of the Gulan Revolution between the years (176-1989), (Kurdistan Press – Zakho - 2007).
3- Ghazi Adel Gardi, A Peshmerga in the Service of the Barzani Path, Haji Birokhi, Volume Two, Second Edition, (Turkey - 2021).