Haji Omaran is located northeast of the city of Erbil, 183 km away, affiliated with the Choman district on the border of the Kurdistan Region with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Given its geographical location, the area has witnessed many important historical events, especially playing a distinguished role in the Kurdish revolutions, most notably the outbreak of the Aylul Revolution in the year 1961 until 1975 under the leadership of the leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani, and the first Martyr in the area was Sayyid Abdullah in the Gulan Revolution on the date of May 26, 1976. It also witnessed other battles and epics. In the period from 1980 to 1988, the Haji Omaran area and its villages were subjected to complete destruction for three years due to the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran. The area was completely rebuilt after the spring of the year 1991, which saw the glorious uprising of the Kurdish people.
After the outbreak of the Gulan Revolution, the main Headquarters of the Politburo of the Kurdistan Democratic Party was in the village of Kober, affiliated with the Khana (Piranshahr) area in Eastern Kurdistan. It seems that the Iraqi Army artillery was shelling randomly from the Haji Omaran area. Therefore, the revolution leadership decided that it was necessary to do something to push the artillery back. For this purpose, a force of about (60) Peshmerga was formed under the leadership of (Zakari Yahya Khan, Yasin Birokhi, Ahmed Kashkhi Jalali, Hassan Agha Ziwiyi, Omar Osman) to carry out this activity.
The force climbed from the village of Haji Ibrahim to the Small Qandil and headed to Mount Kodo. Its position was in great control of Haji Omaran, Rayat, Choman, and the surrounding areas. From there, they notified the Iranian artillery to begin shelling the artillery battalion and the Iraqi regime's camp in Haji Omaran.
After identifying the location, the Iraqi Army's camp and artillery were shelled accurately for two or three days. As a result of this shelling, the Iraqi Army could not hold its ground and retreated from the area after suffering heavy damage.
When the revolutionary leadership became convinced that the war between Iraq and Iran had entered a difficult phase, it had to seize this opportunity. For this purpose, it met with the military commanders of the revolution and discussed the war between the two countries.
According to the received information, no large force remained in the border areas due to the war, so it was better to bring these areas under the control of the revolution. To implement this idea, the revolution leadership decided to attack Haji Omaran in an attempt to liberate it, but they faced a problem, which was that the area's heights were at that time in the hands of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran.
The Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran attacked on the night of October 17/18, 1980, with support from Iraqi artillery on the military Headquarters (Padga) in Khana (Piranshahr), and shelled it heavily. After the attack, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran evacuated Haji Omaran, and the revolution leadership subsequently sent Peshmerga Forces to the area's heights and asked the Iranian government to assist them in this attack. Although the Iranian government agreed to the request, the assistance was not as expected. After the meeting of the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Masoud Barzani with the officials in the Peshmerga Forces, he assigned them the tasks as follows:
- Ali Khalil, Sabri Nairooyi, Ali Shaban, and Najm al-Din Torooni were assigned to the Ine and Maran valley to pressure the Choman – Haji Omaran road under the leadership of the axis official Ali Khalil.
- M. Ali and the Second Branch forces descended to the Rayat road on the back side of Gondezhor.
- Hamid Afandi and Corporal Yasin and the Fourth Branch, Tahsin Nairooyi, and Abdulrahman Taha to the Siber valley east of Haji Omaran.
2- Omar Osman: Zhyani Kurdik, Volume One and Two, Mukriyan Printing House, Second Edition, Erbil-2008, p. 118-119.
3- Ghazi Adel Gardi: A Peshmerga in the Service of the Barzani Path, Haji Birokhi, Volume Two, Second Edition, Turkey, 2021, p. 124.
4- Haji Mirkan Dolamari: Searching for Justice, Volume Two, Second Edition, Kurdistan- 2021, p. 277.
5- Masoud Barzani: Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Four 1975 – 1990 Gulan Revolution, Part Two, First Edition, Roxana Printing House. p. 54.
- Hasso Zhazhuki was assigned to the Shiworsh front.
- The Haji Omaran road was designated for the passage of the Second Branch forces, Rasul Faqi, Abdullah Qado, Fizo Salim Khan, and Mullah Rasul.
- Haji Birokhi and Rashid Isomri remained in Qamtara as an Alternate force.
- Dr. Roj Nuri Shaways, President Abdullah, and Azad Barwari were assigned to lead and supervise the battle in the field.
On November 11, 1980, all matters related to the attack were completed, and each force left for its designated location. Iranian assistance to support the fighting included shelling Iraqi Army camps, providing logistical support, and transporting Martyrs and the wounded by utilizing helicopters for this purpose.
Iran also promised to support the Peshmerga with warplanes in case Iraqi Army helicopters arrived, but it did not do so, did not fulfill its promises, and was not as it should have been during implementation. Although the situation of the government forces was stronger than the Peshmerga realized, the only major obstacle before them, according to the information they received, was the snow and the cold.
The attack began on November 15, 1980. Initially, the Iranian artillery shelled the areas that were observation points for the Peshmerga Forces, but that was not up to expectations, and it happened once that the Peshmerga were on the verge of being hit by this shelling. The Peshmerga were able to take control of three important positions while capturing five soldiers, but they fell into a critical situation at the heights due to the snow and the storm. Initially, the attack was successful, and the Peshmerga were able to take control of an area near the Haji Omaran mosque, and the Iraqi Army left the bodies of its dead soldiers on the battlefield. However, after the news of the Martyrdom of Fatah Agha and a number of his Peshmerga companions from the Birokhi forces spread, the campaign calmed down due to the shelling.
This epic lasted (48) hours, and many positions fell into the hands of the Peshmerga, but it was decided to withdraw due to the danger of snow closing the road and the difficulty for the Peshmerga to remain and hold their ground in that area.
Also, another force that was present in Diana was preparing to attack the Peshmerga. The army's losses in this battle were the killing and wounding of more than 70 soldiers, along with five prisoners.
After the decision to stop the attack was issued, the Peshmerga Forces withdrew, and the commando forces belonging to the Iraqi Army returned to their previous positions. The Peshmerga Forces remained for a month in the village of Tamarjian inside the lands of Eastern Kurdistan, but they were heading to the area's heights periodically.
The losses of the Peshmerga Forces in this battle were (14) Martyrs and (26) wounded, most of whom were due to the intense shelling by the Iraqi Army artillery. It is worth noting, as pointed out by the book (Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement), that the Military Situation of the Iraqi forces was stronger than what was known to the Peshmerga according to the information they had received, on one hand. On the other hand, the coldness of the season was a reason for the inability of the Peshmerga to control all of Haji Omaran and liberate it, especially maintaining a continuous presence on the heights of the region.
Sources:-
Omar Osman: The Life of a Kurd, Volume One and Two, Mukryan Printing House, Second Edition, Erbil-2008.
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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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Ghazi Adel Gardi: A Peshmerga in the Service of the Barzani Path, Haji Birokhi, Volume Two, Second Edition, Turkey, 2021.
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Haji Mirkhan Dolemari: Searching for Justice, Volume Two, Second Edition, Kurdistan- 2021.