The rise of Aylul Revolution and the explosion of Kurdish discontent against the broken promises of the Abdul Karim Qasim regime (1958-1963), caused several cities and towns in Southern Kurdistan to fall into the hands of the Peshmerga within a few months and be administered by the revolution. After taking control of Brifkan, Atrush, and Shekhan up to Maqlub and the area of the Yazidis and Goranati, the Peshmerga forces of Kurdistan set off towards the areas of the Akre district, where a large number of mercenaries had gathered and become a source of harassment and trouble for the residents of the area. In addition to that, the leadership wanted to extend the activities of the revolution to all areas of Kurdistan.
In that campaign to expand the scope of the revolution in various areas of Kurdistan, the Peshmerga forces were able to take control of the Nahli plain and the villages of the Zebari region and the Dinarta district, reaching Sari Akre and the Bekhma gorge. The presence of a police battalion in the center of the Nahli sub-district could not resist the Peshmerga, and the army did not come to their aid, so they were forced to flee towards Akre. All administrative, military, police, and government mercenary (Jash) agencies left the area and regrouped in Akre. Only a small clash occurred at Sari Akre, which did not have much effect on the Peshmerga's advance, but the fighter jets heavily bombarded the Peshmerga, which resulted in the martyrdom of eight Peshmerga.
Barzani, the leader of the revolution, ordered from there to organize the battle fronts and manage the area, appointing Hasso Mirxan Dolamari as the commander of the Shekhan and Akre forces, and he established his headquarters in the Sharman cave. The number of his army reached 400 Peshmerga because the revolution had become a place for gathering the hopes and aspirations of the loyal people for the liberation of the homeland, so day by day a large number joined the ranks of the revolution and took up the arms of the Peshmerga. Also, Malla Shani Bedaruni and Omar Agha Dolamari were appointed as officials of Sari Akre. After that, Barzani and his forces set off towards the Soran region.
From the month of April 1962 until July of the same year, daily battles and clashes continued in Sari Akre and its surroundings. During that period, that area had become the nest of several great epics and the Peshmerga's defense of the gains of the revolution. From Sari Akre to the Zenta gorge and the Sharman cave, up to the surroundings of Mriba, Brifkan, Baadre, and the surroundings of Duhok, they were daily subjected to attacks by the army and mercenary gunmen and aerial bombardment.
On 3 May 1962, a large force of the army, mobile police, and 2000 mercenary (Jash) gunmen from the Herki, Surchi, and Zebari tribes, supported by 12 armored vehicles under the fire of artillery and bombardment by MiG jets and all kinds of weapons, attacked the Peshmerga positions near the villages of Kharp, Shush, Sharman, and Bakrman in the surroundings of Akre. They set fire to the village of Samaqok and its surroundings, and nearly 10 civilians, women, and children became victims and were martyred. However, because their plan was revealed through telegrams and the government's communications with its military commanders, the Peshmerga were able to confront them, inflict heavy casualties on them, defeat their attack, and force them to return to their previous positions.
It is clear that the government in this attack intended to reach the Barzan region and establish a border between Soran and Badinan and separate them from each other. Besides that, it believed that the key to reaching Barzan was Sari Akre and the Zenta gorge up to Bekhma, so that through that route it could deal a fatal blow to the revolution and paralyze it. But not only was it unable to implement its plan and reach the mountains, hills, and valleys of the area, but it also suffered huge losses and damages. They did not even have the courage to approach the Peshmerga again, so to rectify their failures, they resorted to bombarding the Peshmerga positions and the villages and towns. It is worth mentioning that the Peshmerga forces, in addition to facing the battle and defense, had also organized guerrilla squads and detachments that struck convoys, bases, and headquarters deep within government territory.
One of the guerrilla activities consisted of attacking the Akre fortress, where Commander Malla Shani Bedaruni decided that each force should prepare three Peshmerga to carry out the activity. After they reached the intended location, they besieged the fortress, and a six-hour battle continued from 10 at night until 4 in the morning with the force inside the fortress, but before dawn, the Peshmerga returned to their positions.
On 10 May 1962, from early morning until late evening, bomber planes and other fighter jets intensively bombarded the Peshmerga positions around the villages of the Nahla valley, Shush, Sharman, Gundik, and Bakrman. As a result, it caused a lot of damage to the villages of the area, and three Peshmerga were martyred and 7 others were wounded.
As a result of those battles, the state's losses were so great that the bodies of dozens of killed soldiers were left on the battlefields and fell into the hands of the Peshmerga, so the morale of the soldiers was at the peak of collapse and disintegration, and their ability to resist had become very weak to a large extent.
On 8 February 1963, the Baathists, led by Abdul Salam Arif, staged a coup against Abdul Karim Qasim and overthrew his government. For three months, the fighting was stopped and negotiations between the revolution and the Baathists began, but it did not lead to any positive result. Instead, on 10 June 1963, the attacks and assaults of the Iraqi government on the revolution's areas began again, but this time the Iraqi Army prepared itself for the war against the Kurds with different techniques and a more destructive plan, which was to resort to the country of Syria to come to their aid and cross the border, so that they could end the Kurdish revolution in a short time.
This happened according to an agreement between the two countries. 400 soldiers of the Syrian Yarmouk Force (Quwat Yarmouk Suri), commanded by Colonel Fahd al-Shaer, entered the territory of Kurdistan and established their main base in Zakho and participated in the military campaigns against the revolution's areas in Akre and other places. They launched a widespread attack on the Peshmerga positions again. The Peshmerga decided to fight a battle of life or death, and thus they were able to deal them a major blow and force them to retreat.
But just one week later, they launched a wider attack again, and the Peshmerga continued to resist, although in that attack the armies of the two states had 96 killed soldiers and mercenaries, along with 132 wounded and a number of captives, while the Peshmerga forces had 5 Martyrs and 17 wounded. However, due to the shortage of ammunition and supplies and the exhaustion of the Peshmerga from the fighting of the previous few months, in addition to considering the interests of the citizens so that they would no longer suffer harm and damage, it was another position of the Peshmerga. On the other hand, confronting the armies of two states at the same time was a very difficult task, so it was decided to withdraw from the heights of Sari Akre and fortify their positions on Mount Peres and establish a strong defensive line.
Sources:1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, The September Revolution 1961-1975, 1st ed. 2004.
2- Shawkat Mullah Ismail Hassan, Days in the History of the September Revolution, 1st ed., Erbil, 2007.
3- Ghazi Adil Gardi, A Peshmerga in the Service of the Barzani Path, Haji Birokhi, Volume One, 2nd ed., Turkey, 2021.
4- Hozhin Masoud Sarni, The September Revolution in the Bahdinan Region 1061- 1975, 1st ed., 2018.
5- Wali Zubair Hostani, Some Events and Incidents in the Barzan Revolutions and Uprisings, 1st ed., Rojhalat Printing House, Erbil, 2017.
6- Ari Karim, Some Living Pages from the September Revolution, Khabat Printing House, Duhok 1999.
7- Ibrahim Jalal, Southern Kurdistan and the September Revolution, Foundation and Collapse, 1961-1975. 4th ed., 2021.
8- Haji Mirxan Dolamari, Searching for Justice, Volume One, 2nd ed., Isra Printing House, Tehran, 2021.