The Iraqi government, from the middle of December 1964, had begun making excuses and provoking conflict; under the pretext of chaos, it had started a campaign of arrests and harassment of the people in the cities and towns of Kurdistan. At the same time, there were military movements. At the beginning of 1965, the relationship between the Kurdish revolutionary leadership and the government was heading toward collapse and tension. Even the developments indicated that Abdul Salam Arif was backtracking on the implementation of the articles of the February 1964 ceasefire and his promises, and was trying to find an excuse to reignite the war. To confirm this, we can point to the words of a foreign journalist who visited Kurdistan a month after the aforementioned ceasefire; as he says: "He saw nothing but destruction and ruin." He also says: "All the villages along the roads and main streets of Sulaymaniyah had been bombed and burned with napalm and had turned into dust and ashes, and within five months, 3000 villages were destroyed."
Kurdistan Democratic Party With the intention of expressing the dissatisfaction of the people of Kurdistan and on the occasion of the passing of one year since the ceasefire, it called for a general strike in Kurdistan. Although the strike achieved remarkable success in many cities and towns of Kurdistan, these efforts did not lead to any results. At the end of March 1965, the Iraqi regime's army once again imposed the fire of war on Kurdistan, believing that due to the division of the party and the Kurdistan revolution in terms of politics and military, it was a suitable time to impose a war that would increase their chances of success.
The Iraqi government had a plan to remove Mount Safin from the hands of the Peshmerga forces, because by capturing that mountain, it would eliminate the threat to the Erbil-Rawanduz main road, where their forces were always falling into ambushes by Peshmerga forces. On the other hand, it would lead to the removal of the Peshmerga forces from the Erbil plain, as the residents of this plain had an active role in the provision of food and supplies to the Peshmerga. It must also be said that the road between Erbil and Shaqlawa extends toward Rawanduz, which is the main road to the Spilik military base, the Rawanduz (Hamiya) military base, and dozens of other police stations, for which it was necessary to remove the threats. Therefore, the Iraqi Army, with the intention of eliminating these threats, made full preparations to attack the mountain and achieve its goals. The Iraqi Army gathered a large number of units of the Second Division in the area, including Brigade 1, Brigade 14, Brigade 15, and Brigade 20 and 9. It is noteworthy that the capture of Mount Safin and the removal of Peshmerga activity was so important to the government's military officials that it reached the point where President Abdul Salam Arif himself came to Shaqlawa to visit the war fronts closely..
Due to the party's organizations within the Iraqi Army, information regarding these military movements reached the Peshmerga officials, and along with it, there was news of the arrival of about 30000 hired Jash from the Soran and Badinan regions. The Battle of Safin was a major battle; it covered a wide front from the Koya region toward the Goma Span and Safin pass, the Shaqlawa region, and toward Mount Hawre and Zinetir. In contrast, the Kurdish revolutionary forces on Mount Safin consisted of about 1000 Peshmerga of the Safin Force and 300 Peshmerga of the Erbil Plain Force and the Betwata Force. It is worth mentioning that some of the combat military units of the country of Egypt that were stationed around Baghdad were also brought and made to participate in this war.
In the face of this large force of the Iraqi Army, the protection of this region was the responsibility of the Safin Force, which consisted of the General Commander of the front Rashid Sindi, the Force Commander Lieutenant Tahir Ali Wali, whose headquarters was in the town of Hiran, the First Battalion commanded by Wahid Kwekha Aziz, the Second Battalion commanded by Mela Gharib, the Third Battalion commanded by Mam Ibrahim Kako, and the Erbil Plain Battalion commanded by Faris Bawa. All these forces were divided into four axes: the first axis was in the village of Ziyarat, the second axis in Sarmeydan, the third axis in Sari Rash, and the fourth axis in Hujran.
The first attack of the Iraqi Army began on the night of 12 to 13 April 1965, when they were able to capture Kepki Sor, and then for 8 days, the Iraqi Army continuously shelled Mount Safin from all fronts. Their largest attack on Mount Safin began on 21 April 1965 on the Goma Span and Ziyarat pass front. At the same time, the Iraqi Army, with the intention of putting more pressure on the front and preventing the Peshmerga forces from other fronts from coming to the aid of the Safin Force, in those attacks by the Iraqi Army on Mount Safin, could not achieve progress and used various types of weapons, ammunition, aircraft, tanks, and armored vehicles. Despite this, it suffered a major defeat. These defeats caused the government to reconsider the design of its previous plans and plots. For this purpose, they invented something new, which was giving rewards (money) in exchange for capturing every peak, height, and mountain top. The price was determined according to the difficulty and strategic importance of the location. For example, in that war, the Jash leader Zero Herki had agreed as a contractor with the government to take back Mount Safin from the Peshmerga for the amount of 20000 Dinars. Also, in this same war, Saeed Taha Zebari had agreed to capture the Garote peak in exchange for 10000 Dinars, which was a difficult and strategic place on Mount Safin. Although this government plan had an impact on the prolongation of the war, in the end, the fate of both of them was death.
The continuation of attacks, assaults, shelling, and bombing of Peshmerga positions, along with the hired Jash and the change in the Iraqi Army's plan, had caused the general situation of the Peshmerga to become chaotic in terms of weapons, ammunition, casualties, and the poor health condition of the wounded. Also, due to the difficulty of the mountain, the arrival of aid and supplies for the Peshmerga in terms of food, ammunition, and medical materials for transport was not easy. This made staying and defending the mountain difficult, so the Peshmerga commanders decided to withdraw for a while.
In all these battles of Mount Safin, the losses of the Iraqi Army were 154 killed, 348 wounded, and 32 captured. The losses of the Kurdish revolutionary force were the death of 22 Peshmerga and the wounding of 86 Peshmerga.
In general, the Battle of Mount Safin is an important battle, because it is the longest battle in the history of the battles of Aylul Revolution in which, from 12 April to 17 July in the year 1965, which lasted for 95 days, the Iraqi Army used all types of ground and air weapons, which were considered the most advanced weapons of the time. The number of Peshmerga on the battlefront was more than a thousand Peshmerga, while the number of the army and Jash reached 40000. It is true that the revolutionary army of Kurdistan lost Mount Safin due to that unequal war, but at some times during the war, reducing losses and casualties or retreating is considered a victory.
Sources:
1- Shwan Muhammad Amin Taha Khoshnaw, Erbil between the years 1963 – 1970, Salahaddin University Press, Erbil, 2016, p. 190.
2- Chris Kutschera, The Kurds in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, trans: Hama Karim Arif, fourth edition, Awer Printing and Publishing House, 2007, p. 319.
3- Hawkar Karim Hama Sharif, The September Revolution, Salahaddin University Press, Erbil, 2012, p. 179.
4- Muhammad Malla Qadir, Saga – A Summary of Memories, Aras Publications, Erbil, 2009, p. 37.
5- Ismet Cheriff Vanly, Iraqi Kurdistan: A National Identity (A Study of the 1961 Revolution), trans: Suad Muhammad Khadr, Shvan Press, Sulaymaniyah, 2012, pp. 353 – 354.
6- Khurshid Shera, Struggle and Blood, third edition, Haji Hashim Press, Erbil, 2015, pp. 143 – 144.