The Iraqi Army began its attack on the morning of April 24, 1974, on the areas under the Kurdistan revolution, using all its capabilities on the battlefield, and its goal was to make progress to occupy all the lands of Kurdistan. A part of the force wanted on April 25, 1974, to head to Sangaw and control it before reaching Chamchamal via the Kirkuk-Sulaymaniyah road. The units of this force consisted of the Second Battalion of the Fourth Brigade of the Second Division-Kirkuk in cooperation with the tank battalion that was advancing the forces. The Iraqi Army was not aware that the Peshmerga of the First Battalion of the Second Brigade Kirkuk would confront them with all courage and very high morale.

The Peshmerga forces were entrenched and fortified in the Shiwe Sur area in a tight defensive position. They were like a solid structure against the advance of the Iraqi forces. In addition, the Peshmerga planted anti-personnel and anti-tank mines in front of the Iraqi Army. When the battle began, a number of Iraqi Army tanks were destroyed. In the meantime, Lieutenant Colonel Dia al-Din Jamal, commander of the Second Battalion, ordered that the advance of the tanks at the front be stopped except in necessary cases.

 

When the infantry forces of the army continued their crawl, they were suddenly exposed to the fire of the Peshmerga's rifles and mines. After eight hours of continuous battle, the Iraqi Army suffered heavy losses against the defenses of the Peshmerga forces. Its human losses were the killing of dozens of soldiers and the wounding of others, and among the dead was the personal guard of the battalion commander. As for the material losses, they were the destruction of six tanks, three armored vehicles, and a number of military vehicles. Also, large quantities of light and medium weapons were seized.

 

Sources:

  1. Sangar Ibrahim Khoshnaw: Military Events of the Aylul Revolution 1970-1975, First Edition, Erbil, 2022.

  2. Karwan Jawhar Muhammad: Idris Barzani 1944-1987 Life and Political and Military Role in the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Hevi Printing House, Erbil, 2019.