When the Iraqi government declared its war against the Kurdish revolution in 1974, it began launching a large and comprehensive attack on Kurdistan. For this attack, it formed a large army consisting of more than a quarter of a million soldiers armed with all advanced and heavy weapons, including hundreds of modern tanks and air weapons in addition to aircraft. Its goal was to eliminate Aylul Revolution. In light of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Iraq and the Soviet Union.

The Garmian region, like all other regions of Kurdistan, was subjected to military occupation campaigns, as the army attacked it from three sides: from the north, south, and west. The army sent its forces starting from Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, and Kirkuk to take control of the entire territory of Garmian. Both Staff Lieutenant General Abdul-Jabbar Shanshal and Staff Lieutenant General Saeed Hamu, Commander of the Northern Region, attributed the reason for the seizure of Garmian to several reasons, including: that it is a vast region that includes large cities such as (Khurmal, Halabja, Sirwan, Arabat, Said Sadiq, Darbandikhan, Sangaw, Qardagh), and the high mountains were a support for the revolution in all eras and times, and that posed a danger to the government, as well as narrowing the areas of the revolution in order to block the path for the Peshmerga to descend to the cities and direct strikes at the Iraqi Army.

The Iraqi Army appointed a number of military units to begin this attack, including: the Fourteenth Brigade of the First Division led by Staff Colonel Abdul-Jabbar al-Safi, the tank battalion led by First Lieutenant Raad al-Hamdani, the Air Force, and the mercenary gunmen (Jash). The units assigned in the Iraqi Army began their preparations for the attack on June 1, 1974, in the Quliasan area south of Sulaymaniyah, and it lasted for three days. After that, the army began moving on the morning of June 1974. The Peshmerga Forces confronted this attack in the village of Farjawa and prevented the army from advancing. The Peshmerga were able to inflict heavy losses on the ranks of the Iraqi Army forces. The battle continued until the afternoon of the same day, and it resulted in the killing of a large number of soldiers and mercenaries, and the Peshmerga Forces were able to capture about (20) soldiers and mercenaries. As for the Peshmerga side, three were martyred and a number of others were wounded. After the army was defeated, it bombed the villages, the countryside, and the berms and positions of the Peshmerga in the area.

The next day, the army continued its attack with the support of warplanes and with the help of mercenaries (Jash), where they were able to take control of Arabat and continue advancing towards Darbandikhan. Before they reached their goals, the Peshmerga Forces clashed with them again at the Tanjero bridge in Zarain. A fierce battle took place between the two sides, and although the Peshmerga Forces were able to inflict losses on the army as it advanced in the area, the number of Peshmerga individuals was small compared to this huge number of soldiers, as the army forces included (16) armored vehicles led by Staff Colonel Mahmoud Wahaib, who headed from Jalula, so the Peshmerga could not hold their ground and retreated, and thus the army was able to enter Darbandikhan.  

After several days, specifically on June 9, 1974, a force of Peshmerga attacked the Iraqi Army in the Qardagh area, aiming to strike and inflict losses on the army units. On June 11, the Peshmerga Forces launched an attack on the reserve brigade (90) tasked with protecting Zarain. This activity was part of guerrilla warfare, and the goal of this attack was to send a message to the army that the Peshmerga Forces are lying in wait for them and confronting them anywhere, and if they manage to occupy an area, they should not think that the Peshmerga Forces will sit idly by. 

Sources:      

  1. Shawkat Malla Ismail Hassan: Days in the History of the Aylul Revolution, 1961-1975, Ministry of Education Press, Erbil – 2007.

  2. Karwan Jawhar Muhammad: Idris Barzani 1944-1987 Life and Political and Military Role in the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Hevi Press, Erbil, 2019.

  3. - Masoud Barzani: Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part Two, Aylul Revolution 1961-1975, First Edition – Erbil, 2004.

  4. Sangar Ibrahim Khoshnaw: Military Events of the Aylul Revolution 1970-1975, Daneshfar Press, First Edition, Erbil, 2022.