In the summer of 1982, the headquarters of the Second Branch of the Kurdistan Democratic Party was in the Balisan Valley, and the headquarters of the Balakish District Committee was in Sheikh Wasanan, which was a liberated area surrounded by high and rugged mountains. Because the revolution had widely covered the areas of Kurdistan, those places were gaps for the Iraqi military forces, and it could not control them. The revolution's headquarters were located there, and Peshmerga detachments and special forces were sent to every part of Kurdistan, and their activities continued inside and outside the city, on roads, and at military outposts.
According to the account of Ali Wasta Hamad, a Peshmerga of the Gulan Revolution, news reached the Peshmerga forces that a large amount of weapons had arrived in the town of Harir by the Ba'ath regime, in order to arm a large number of people in the area under the name of the Popular Army (Jaysh al-Sha'abi). This can be interpreted in several dimensions, such as arming a large part of the people of Kurdistan and cutting salaries for them, in addition to using them against the Kurdish revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. Of course, the preoccupation of the vast majority of the Iraqi Army with the Iran-Iraq war and the evacuation of many military bases and outposts and filling those places with those forces, and on the other hand, preventing many people from joining the ranks of the revolution by making them government salary earners.
After the news of the arrival of those weapons and their storage in the Harir organization base of the Ba'ath Party reached the Peshmerga forces, the Peshmerga commanders of the Second Branch immediately, under the supervision of Muhammad Mulla Qadir the Branch responsible, called upon the Peshmerga forces of the Balaki area to carry out an activity. After they analyzed the news, they formed a force under the command of some of the branch officials and military commanders of the Balaki area, such as Najmadin Goroni and Ahmed Kashkha and many others, so that they could attack that base in a short time and defeat that plan of the Ba'ath regime, which was the creation of a popular force from the residents of the town of Harir.
The Peshmerga force prepared themselves on a summer night in 1982 with weapons, war supplies, and other necessities for the road, water, food, and provisions. They set off in the Alana Valley towards the Bani Harir mountain and took the road. When they reached near the town of Harir, they stationed a Peshmerga force outside the city in a place from which two roads led to the heights of the mountain ridge, for the safety of the road during the return of the Peshmerga force and to protect them. The other Peshmerga force, with a tight guerrilla plan, sneaked into the alleys and streets of the town until they reached the vicinity of the Ba'ath organization base. After they made full preparations for striking and attacking, they launched an attack with the weapons they had, which were RPGs and other hand weapons. A hot battle began. In a short time, they set fire to two of the organization's vehicles. The battle lasted for more than half an hour. Those who were inside the Ba'ath organization put up a lot of resistance; although 2-3 of them were killed, the others put up strong resistance. They martyred and wounded several Peshmerga. After the Peshmerga force suffered martyrs and wounded, and the battle was inside the city, there was a danger of the arrival of other government support forces to confront the Peshmerga. Also, the burning of the vehicles inside the organization made the place very bright. The Peshmerga did not think it was good to stay longer and continue the battle to enter and seize the weapons, but they decided to withdraw so that they could manage to evacuate the martyrs and wounded, so they left the place.
The result of that activity and the losses of the Ba'ath regime consisted of the killing of 2-3 of the organization's guards and the burning of two vehicles inside the organization's headquarters. The losses of the revolution were the martyrdom of three Peshmerga and the wounding of a number of others. After carrying out the activity, the government moved the weapons to Shaqlawa and did not distribute them. That is, as a result of that activity by the Peshmerga forces, the government could not implement the plan it had drawn up for arming the people of Harir and failed. It also arrested a number of Harir residents on the charge that their relatives were Peshmerga and that they had helped them in their arrival into the city and carrying out the activity, in addition to a great echo that the Peshmerga was able to carry out an activity in the heart of the town of Harir.
Source:1- Interview with Ali Wasta Hamad Khalkani, Peshmerga of the Gulan Revolution, participant in the battle, resident of Soran, Chami Rizan neighborhood, May 4, 2026.