After the collapse of the Aylul Revolution the Ba'ath government had surrounded all the heights, hills, valleys, and roads with military outposts. However, with the outbreak of war with the Country of Iran (1980-1988), the government had a great need for those forces to use them in the war, and was forced to move them in many places to the front lines of the battle. Naturally, this step provided an opportunity for the Peshmerga Forces of Kurdistan to have greater freedom of movement and to expand the area of liberated regions, as well as to directly connect with the masses and develop political and Peshmerga activities.     

     Among the most prominent activities that existed during that period were the battles of the year 1981, in which the Peshmerga forces dealt two strong blows to the Iraq army in two epics in the village of Banibnok on Suren Mountain and the areas of Zelm and Karchal. In the first battle, the Peshmerga were able to record a major activity and inflict heavy losses on the soldiers of the Iraq army, consisting of the killing and wounding of a large number of soldiers, and 124 other soldiers were taken prisoner. Hundreds of pieces of weapons and military supplies fell into the hands of the Peshmerga. However, in that epic, the Peshmerga forces were not without losses; rather, four Peshmerga were martyred, by the names of (Akram Hama-Rashid Banibnoki, Mamosta Sulaiman, Osman Penjweni, and Peshmerga commander Abubakr Mahmud Banibnoki).

     In that same year, the activities of the Peshmerga in that area continued against the institutions of the Ba'ath government, in such a way that in the first six months of the year 1981, the Peshmerga forces recorded more than two hundred and thirty-eight various activities against the army, armed men, and government institutions. In all those activities, the losses of the government forces consisted of 1251 killed and a large number of wounded, in addition to a large gain of weapons, ammunition, equipment, and military supplies. The carrying out of all those Peshmerga activities resulted in the martyrdom of 48 Peshmerga.

     It is worth mentioning that in every revolution and armed uprising, military activities play an effective role in raising the morale of the Peshmerga, the masses, and the supporters of the revolution. At the same time, it builds hope within them that they are getting closer to victory and achieving their goals. In return, it casts fear and anxiety into the ranks of the opposing side, which is forced to listen to their legitimate demands and call for dialogue and agreement.

Sources:

  1. Masoud Barzani: Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Four, 1975-1990 Gulan Revolution, Part Two, First Edition, Ruxana Printing House, 2021.

  2. Jamal Fathullah Tayib: The Kurdish Liberation Movement in Southern Kurdistan (21/3/1975 - 28/11/1980), First Edition, Shahab Printing House, Erbil, 2012.

  3. Omar Osman: The Life of a Kurd, Mukryan Printing House, Second Edition, Erbil – 2008.