The Iraqi government, which declared war against the Kurdistan revolution in 1974, launched a major attack on Kurdistan, a massive army of a quarter of a million with heavy weapons, including hundreds of modern tanks, all kinds of aerial weapons and air forces, to suppress the Kurds and cancel the September Revolution allocated, according to the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Iraq and the Soviet Union.

The Germiyan region, like all other parts of Kurdistan, was subjected to military occupation by the army and they attacked from three sides, from the north, south and west, meaning they sent forces from Sulaymaniyah, Halabja and Kirkuk to occupy the entirety of Germiyan. The Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Army, Lieutenant General Abdul Jabbar Shanshal, and the Commander of the Northern Region, General Saeed Hamo, linked the capture of Germiyan to several reasons, because it contains a large area and several large cities such as Khurmal, Halabja, Sirwan, Arbat, Said Sadiq, Darbandikhan, Sangaw and Qaradagh, the high mountains of the region have always been the pillar of the revolution and were a major threat to the government, the capture of a part of the border of Iran with Kurdistan, and the tightening of the revolution's areas to prevent the Peshmerga from descending into the cities and attacking the Iraqi army.

The Iraqi army deployed many military units to carry out the attack, including the 14th Division force under the command of Colonel Abdul Jabbar al-Safi, the Tank Battalion under the command of Colonel Raad Hamdani, the Air Force and mercenary gunmen (Jash). On June 1, 1974, units of the Iraqi army in the Qilyasan area south of Sulaymaniyah began preparing for the attack, which lasted for three days. Then, on the morning of June 4, 1974, the soldiers began to move. The Kurdistan Peshmerga Forces blocked the soldiers against this attack at the village of Ferecawe and were able to defeat the advances of the Iraqi army and cause them great damage. This battle continued until the afternoon hours and as a result, a large number of soldiers and mercenaries were killed and wounded, nearly 20 soldiers and mercenaries were taken prisoner by the Peshmerga forces. On the side of the revolution, 3 Peshmerga were martyred and a number of Peshmerga were wounded. After the army suffered a major defeat, the Iraqi army's artillery began shelling the villages of the area and the Peshmerga positions.

The next day, the Iraqi army's attacks continued with the support of warplanes and mercenaries (Jash), they were able to take Arbat and continue their advance towards Darbandikhan. Before reaching their destination, they clashed again with the Peshmerga on the Tancero bridge of Zerayen, a fierce battle broke out between them. Although the Peshmerga forces were able to cause damage to the army's advances, their forces were very small compared to the large forces of the army, which included the 16th Armored Division under the command of Colonel Mahmoud Wahib, who had come from Jalawla. Because of this, they could no longer resist and retreated with their forces, and the army was able to enter Darbandikhan.

After a few days, on June 9, 1974, the Peshmerga forces attacked the Iraqi army in the Qaradagh area to strike and damage the army units. On June 11, they again attacked the 90th Reserve Force, which was responsible for protecting Zeryan. It is clear that these were partisan activities by the Peshmerga to cause damage to the army and so that they would not think that if they captured these areas, the Peshmerga would stop and could no longer confront them.

Source:
  1. Shawkat Mullah Ismail Hassan, A Day from the History of September 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, Hivi Press, Erbil, 2019.
  3. Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume III, Part II, September Revolution 1961-1975, First Edition – Erbil, 2004.

Sangar Ibrahim Khoshnaw, Military Events of the September Revolution 1970-1975, Danishfar Press, Edition 1, Erbil,