Kani Lanja is one of the villages in the Barzan region, located east of Shirwan Mazin, 2 km away from the main Mergasor-Shirwan Mazin road. It shares a border with the villages of Hallaniya and Berokhi in North Kurdistan. Administratively, it belongs to the Goratu sub-district in the Mergasor district([1]), and like all villages in Kurdistan, that village was destroyed by the Ba'ath government in Year 1979 and its residents were displaced to the forced settlements of Diana, Harir, Bahirka, and Qushtapa. In terms of revolution and resistance, the residents of that village had an active participation in the successive revolutions of Kurdistan, and famous revolutionaries emerged from it, such as Ahmad Misti and Salih Ali Muhammad, Known as Sako Kani Lanji, and many others([2]).

 After the outbreak of the Gulan Revolution and the holding of the Ninth Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party on November 10, Year 1979 in Eastern Kurdistan([3]), one of the decisions of the Ninth Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party was to send the Peshmerga forces back to Kurdistan to begin organizational work and carry out Peshmerga activities in various areas. The Barzan region was one of those areas that belonged to the right wing of Branch 2 of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, as the border of Branch 2 was divided into two main wings, right and left. The right wing was tasked with the border of the Barzan region and its surroundings, and its supervision was entrusted to Dr. Saeed Barzani with the assistance of a group consisting of Haji Mirxan Dolemari, Mullah Omar, Lieutenant Nihad, and Tariq Mawlud. When that Peshmerga force first arrived in the region, they set up a base in a cave in the Bradost mountain and stored a quantity of food and supplies. They initially began collecting information about the barracks, guard posts, and military points in the region, which were organized in a zigzag manner to protect the main roads and were fenced and mined([4]).

One of the series of activities of the Barzan Peshmerga forces was an attack on the guard posts and military bases of the government in Kani Lanja. After setting the design and plan to strike the military bases in the area, the plan was carried out on November 21, 1983. After the Peshmerga attacked their bases and headquarters at the appointed time, they were able to take control of them in a short time and inflict heavy losses on them. Besides the fact that the government forces suffered losses, fear and anxiety were created for them that the Peshmerga were present in the area and were continuing to strike the barracks, guard posts, bases, and headquarters of the Ba'ath, and the activities had an impact in the area. Although the Peshmerga forces also suffered losses in that battle, with 3 Peshmerga being martyred, named Salih Omar, Anwar Khardani, and Zubair Haris Mamiski ([5]).

Sources:
  1. Hashim Shirwani, Barzan Region, Geography - History - Culture, First Edition, Ministry of Culture Press, Erbil - 2008.
  2. Haji Mirxan Dolemari, Searching for Justice, Volume Two, Second Edition, Kurdistan - 2021.
  3. Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Four, 1975-1990 Gulan Revolution, Part Two, First Edition, Ruxana Press, 2021.
  4. Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board, History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Congress and Conference (Program and Internal Regulations), Volume One, First Edition, Rojhalat Press, 2021.

[1] - Hashim Shirwani, Barzan Region, Geography - History - Culture, First Edition, Ministry of Culture Press, Erbil - 2008, p. 26.

[2] - Hashim Shirwani, same source, p. 246.

[3] - Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board, History of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Congress and Conference (Program and Internal Regulations), Volume One, First Edition, Rojhalat Press, 2021, p. 369. 

[4] - Haji Mirxan Dolemari, Searching for Justice, Volume Two, Second Edition, Kurdistan - 2021, p. 252.

[5] - Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Four, 1975-1990 Gulan Revolution, Part Two, First Edition, Ruxana Press, 2021, p. 61.