The Ba'ath regime, with the policy it pursued throughout its rule in Kurdistan, prevented the Kurds from being a real participant in the power of governing the country; it even completely rejected citizenship based on equality and law. Of course, the implementation of that hostile and oppressive policy against the Kurds planted the ground for deep dissatisfaction in the hearts of every individual in Kurdistan in such a way that it stirred national sentiment and patriotism, and as a result, they stood against the military, security, and armed institutions of the regime, because the oppression and tyranny of the Ba'ath institutions encouraged the people to such an extent that they raised their voices of protest, revolted, and confronted the government's security and military institutions in the harshest way. On the other hand, the national movement and the leadership of the revolution, in assessing the situation, reached the conviction that the Ba'ath government did not understand the language of dialogue and peaceful solution in any way, and was not even ready to listen. That is why they reached the conviction that they should prepare themselves for the style of struggle that would harass the Ba'ath leaders and understand the sentiment of a nation, which was the guerrilla armed struggle.
It is clear that the Gulan Revolution is one of the most prominent stages of guerrilla warfare in the history of the Kurdish people's resistance, where the Peshmerga Forces continued to attack the institutions of the Ba'ath regime in all parts of Kurdistan and dealt them back-breaking blows and caused them losses. Undoubtedly, this caused a lot of chaos and confusion in the ranks of the military and security agencies for a long time. It became clear to them that defending rights is a position that is not subject to compromise, and that is what the occupier who dominates this land sees as the essence of the goals of all Peshmerga activities. To continue the guerrilla activities, a Peshmerga force, on a cold night in late autumn 1982, from the village of Piruswan, which is located east of Zozk Mountain, reached the main Soran-Choman road, known as Hamilton Road, through a difficult and rugged valley to set up an ambush for the military forces of the Ba'ath regime.
To shed light on how the activity was carried out, one of the participating Peshmerga named Nabi Khan Aziz Omar spoke to us as follows: We were a force of about 12 Peshmerga, under the command of myself and Muslih Ziwai, and we planned the activity, which was an ambush in a place called Pasht-i Manjalan on the main road. At the time when we were on a patrol in the village of Piruswan, at night, we crawled down through the difficult valley and the precipice below the village. At 9 o'clock at night, we stepped onto the road. When we reached the place where we intended to set up the ambush, we began preparations and divided into several points and lay in wait. It did not take long before a military vehicle of the (Stet and Stein) type came along the road, carrying a group of soldiers in the front and back. Those who were riding in the back were clearly very happy and were dancing and swaying. When it reached directly in front of the Peshmerga ambush, we decided to make it the target of our activity and notified each other to start. All the Peshmerga opened fire with RPGs and light weapons. Although in the blink of an eye, the vehicle was destroyed with the first shot and the first RPG hit, and it fell headlong down the road's precipice and fell into the river with all its passengers. Their dancing and rejoicing turned into screams and moans, and in a few moments, they found themselves in the river water. However, we did not have the opportunity to follow them and see how many of them were killed to collect their weapons, because other military forces were constantly passing through the road, and there were a number of military outposts in the surrounding area that bombarded the area with DShKs and mortars. For the safety of the Peshmerga, we decided to leave the place. Then we climbed up the difficult valley and stayed in the village of Piruswan for a short time, then we returned to our base and headquarters in the Rost Valley.
For more information about the activity and the government's position and reaction after the incident, we were able to speak to a person from the village of Piruswan named Jalal Sulaiman Shwan, who belonged to the secret organizations of the revolution. At that time, he was a resident of the village, but he currently lives in Soran. He said: A Peshmerga force led by Nabi Khan and Muslih Ziwai came through the village of Piruswan. They intended to carry out an activity, which was to strike one of the military outposts of the Iraqi Army, but that night they faced a problem and could not carry out the activity and returned to the village. They stayed in the village until the next night; some of them were in my house and some of them went to another house in the village. The next night, they designated another place behind Manjalan on the main road for their activity. They destroyed a military vehicle and threw it into the river. The next day, a military force of the government came to the village and arrested nine people from the village, including the aforementioned himself, the village Mullah, and the Mukhtar. They dragged those people to a military camp near the village of Barziwa. For two days, they were crammed into a small, narrow room. Then they interrogated them about the fact that those Peshmerga had come through the village of Piruswan and that they were aware of it, but no one revealed any information about it. Instead, they told them that the road is long and the Peshmerga reach everywhere through it, and it is not a condition that they must have come through our village. Then, through the efforts of influential people within the government, all the people were released.
Regarding the government's steps to further ensure the safety of its soldiers' lives during transport and movement, the aforementioned said: After that Peshmerga activity, the government built a military outpost on a high hill near the place where the Peshmerga had set up their ambush, overlooking the main road. Then, they mined the surroundings of the outpost and the valley road.
Sources:1- Hama Ali, Nuri, The History of a Peshmerga's Struggle Between Life and Death, Shahab Printing House, Second Edition, (Erbil- 2016).
2- Tayib, Jamal Fathullah, The Kurdish Liberation Movement in Southern Kurdistan 1976- 1980, First Edition, (Shahab Printing House- Erbil- 2012)
3- Interview, Nabi Khan Aziz Omar, Peshmerga of the Gulan Revolution, participant in the battle, Soran, March 24, 2026.
4- Interview, Jalal Sulaiman Shwan, resident of Piruswan village, Soran, March 23, 2026.