In June 3 1962, the spark of the Aylul Revolution reached the Balakayati region, and the Peshmerga forces moved under the direct supervision of the leader of the revolution, Mullah Mustafa Barzani to the Kalala sub-district with the aim of liberating it. The police forces in the region intended to defend and would not surrender to the Peshmerga. Meanwhile, Barzani was overseeing the battle from Makosan and sent a message to the sub-district director to surrender to the Peshmerga forces to end the fighting without bloodshed.
On the night of 3/4 June 1962, a police station surrendered, but the sub-district director, a police company, the region's officials, and everyone who considered themselves loyal to the government of Abd al-Karim Qasim (1958-1963) secretly took refuge with their families in Rayat Castle, while the state's warplanes were constantly bombing the Peshmerga forces from morning until evening.
There were a large number of policemen inside the castle, and their officer was a Kurd named Karim Khurani. However, when the sub-district director, who was an Arab and did not speak Kurdish, arrived at the castle and became the commander and the first person responsible, on June 4 1962, the Peshmerga forces led by Hajj Birokhi and Corporal Yasin and Mahmoud Kawani, Mustafa Nerwayi, Hassan Khal Hamza, Ahmed Masta, and Omar Dababa, along with several tribal forces, besieged Rayat Castle.
The Peshmerga forces tried to intimidate the police by firing shots and forcing them to surrender, but the besieged refused to surrender, fought back, and requested help from the government. The Peshmerga forces were fully aware of the government's telegrams, as they were besieged and requesting defense and rescue, and they continued to defend. Some of the telegrams were addressed directly to the then-Prime Minister of Iraq, Abd al-Karim Qasim.
The Iraqi government was constantly bombing the Peshmerga forces with warplanes, but it did not cause them any damage. In addition, the planes sometimes dropped food, ammunition, and other supplies to the besieged forces from the air. Few of these supplies reached them, and the majority fell into the hands of the Peshmerga. After two weeks of the castle siege, a force of the Iraqi Army led by Colonel Wahbi, consisting of the Third Battalion of the Third Brigade, set out from Rawanduz via Berserin towards Rayat to break the siege and rescue the besieged.
A force of the Peshmerga led by Mahmoud Kawani and Haris Bidaruni besieged the Iraqi Army at Kospi Spi, Kospi Rola, and the Hafiz Bridge, and fierce fighting broke out between them. As a result, the Iraqi Army battalion was completely destroyed; some were killed, some were wounded, and others were captured. In this battle, the Iraqi government realized that there was no hope of reaching Rayat via this route and breaking the castle's siege, but it resorted to another route, which was to seek the help of mercenary gunmen to attack the Peshmerga from behind on Mount Halkurd opposite Rayat and attempt to break the siege.
Apparently, a group of mercenaries had planned an attack behind Mount Halkurd, but when Barzani heard the news and learned of the plan, he entrusted the siege of the castle to Ali Askari and prepared to thwart this government attempt. He arrived with a force of the Peshmerga to confront them in a short time. On June 27 1962, the Peshmerga force confronted the government forces in the Jigdari, Dol, Medan, and Hurni Balkiyan area. After three days of fierce fighting, they were able to break the ranks of the mercenaries, so that some of them crossed the border into Iranian territory, while others crawled into the valleys of the Lolan region, and thus the second attempt by the Iraqi government to break the siege failed.
After the Peshmerga did their best to get the besieged to surrender and their efforts failed, Barzani ordered on June 10 1962 the construction of a tunnel inside the castle. The tunnel was executed by 16 Peshmerga members and Eastern diggers using pickaxes and shovels, from a distance of 350 meters in a hole east of the castle towards the first tower of the castle without the help of local or foreign technicians and engineers. Sometimes they would dig a hole and raise a red flag to know how much time had passed before they reached the castle. Within 32 days, the tunnel entrance reached the first tower of the castle outside its stone walls. The red flags, the sounds of digging, and the measures frightened the policemen. Ali Askari and Ashraf Amidi passed through the tunnel located below the castle walls and spoke with the sub-district director through an opening, that they had no choice but to surrender or pour TNT on the four walls of the castle and blow it up over their heads. In another indication, it was stated that the two Peshmerga officials were speaking Arabic and informed the sub-district director and promised to release them if they surrendered.
On the night of Thursday, July 12 1962, the besieged, numbering 150 policemen, surrendered. The sub-district director and a number of policemen were sent to the revolution's headquarters in Betwata and were imprisoned in one of the caves, and the others were handed over to the Iraqi government via Piranshahr in Iran to Qasr-e Shirin. Barzani's intention was for the voice of the revolution to reach across the border. Upon the prisoners' arrival in Iran, the European radio and newspapers had published the news. Regarding the prisoners in Betwata, Corporal Karim Khurani, the officer in charge of the Rayat Castle police, was executed after his imprisonment. One day, the sub-district director requested to meet Ali Askari and told him that he had not kept his promise, then he was released after a few days with a number of policemen.
Although a delegation from the Second Division of the Iraqi Army arrived in Haji Omaran to negotiate with Barzani on the fifth day of July 1962, it was to no avail after the capture of the castle. The revolution's gains included 103 Russian, English, and Polish weapons, six Russian-made Bren machine guns, 3000 English bullets, two wireless devices, and a truck. By the decision of the revolution, Rayat Castle was turned into a prison, and the responsibility was assigned to Saeed Masifi.
On July 11 1962, on the eve of the surrender of the besieged, Barzani received an urgent message from Omar Dababa, indicating that fierce fighting was taking place between his forces and a group of mercenaries. He had asked Barzani for urgent help to stop the gunmen from advancing further and taking control of some places. Barzani went himself with a group of his Peshmerga to help them. When Barzani and his forces arrived at the battlefield, the mercenaries lost their morale and could not continue and fled. The battle ended in favor of the Peshmerga, and they left all the places they had controlled and crossed into Iranian territory. Two Peshmerga were martyred during this battle, and 12 others were wounded. Thus, the Rayat police station and the only Iraqi government force in the region were dismantled and expelled from the region without any damage, and the government forces were unable to reach the region until the end of the revolution. The revolution also imposed full authority over the region and moved towards a new phase in terms of consolidating the revolutionary spirit, dispelling the regime's fear among the region's citizens, and increasing the numbers of the Peshmerga.
Sources:
1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, The September Revolution 1961-1975, First Edition, (2004).
2- Ismail Gondezhori, The September Revolution in Balakayati, Rojhalat Printing House, First Edition, (2018).
3- Shawkat Mulla Ismail Hassan, Days from the History of the September Revolution, First Edition, (Erbil- 2007).
4- Hawkar Karim Hama Sharif, The September Revolution 1961-1970, First Edition- (Salahaddin University Printing House- Erbil- 2012).
5- Ghazi Adel Gardi, A Peshmerga in the Service of the Barzani Path, Haji Birokhi, Volume One, Second Edition, (Turkey- 2021).
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