On August 8, 1962, the Peshmerga Forces began moving towards the Khoshnawati region, under the command of military leaders Mustafa Nerwayi, Teli Agha, Ali Shaban, Haji Berokhi, Mahmoud Kawani, Khurshid Shera, Colonel Aziz Akrayi. Under the direct supervision of Barzani, who set up his headquarters in the village of Khate in the Balisan Valley—evidently, during that period, the Balisan Valley was under the control of the Peshmerga Forces—on August 10, Barzani ordered the Peshmerga commanders to attack the Hiran Valley to seize the region, specifically the village of Spindara in the north of the Hiran sub-district, the foothills of Mount Hawre, and all those places where the armed mercenary (Jash) forces loyal to Sabir Agha were stationed.
Barzani tasked Mahmoud Kawani with guiding the other forces as well, in addition to his own force, as they were not familiar with the region, given that he was from the region and had full knowledge of the nooks and crannies of the area. At 4:00 AM on August 11, 1962, the Peshmerga began the attack on the guard posts of the village of Spindara. Within one hour of fighting, most of the mercenaries and their guard posts lost their ability to resist and surrendered to the Peshmerga Forces, except for two points on the heights above the road to Aquban and Hiran that were still resisting. After a short time, the guard post on the hill above the Aquban road also surrendered.
A Peshmerga force, by order of Colonel Aziz Akrayi set up an ambush on the Hiran-Spindara road to block the mercenary (Jash) support force if they intended to come to the aid of those guard posts that had come under the Peshmerga's assault. Evidently, after a while, a group of mercenaries along with Agha Kora, the cousin of Sabir Agha, fell into this Peshmerga ambush; as a result, the aforementioned and four others who were with him were killed.
After the Peshmerga Forces exerted heavy pressure on the guard post that had stood firm in the face of the Peshmerga's offensive, within half an hour it also raised a white flag and surrendered to the Peshmerga. Thus, the entire village of Spindara fell into the hands of the Peshmerga Forces. Sabir Agha and his men lost the ability to resist, abandoned their positions, and fled, leaving behind 18 dead bodies along with six wounded. In that battle and the capture of the village of Spindara, three Peshmerga were martyred.
After the capture of the village of Spindara, it was decided to attack the village of Aquban and the Hiran sub-district, where a large force of armed mercenaries (Jash) and police were stationed. First, a Peshmerga force was allocated to capture Aquban, which is located between Hiran and Shaqlawa, to cut off the main road and prevent any help or support from the government from reaching their forces in Hiran, while Barzani himself monitored the attack from nearby.
The force that had been allocated to capture Aquban began to move and started the attack on the points that had been designated for them. However, when they reached the intended location, the entire armed mercenary force of the Iraqi government had abandoned the village and fled. The Peshmerga Forces took control of Upper and Lower Aquban and Aquban, which overlooks the main Shaqlawa-Hiran road, fortified the area, and set up their headquarters inside the village of Aquban.
After the Peshmerga gained control over the main road between Hiran and Shaqlawa, the attack on the Hiran sub-district began under the direct supervision of Barzani, the leader of the revolution. For several days, the Peshmerga besieged the Hiran and Nazanin barracks, where the police had taken refuge inside and would not surrender. The revolution leadership also preferred that the plan end without bloodshed if possible. On the other hand, the mediation efforts of the personalities and elders of the town led the police to surrender to the Peshmerga Forces without a fight, with all their weapons, ammunition, goods, and equipment. Then, at the request of the personalities and elders of the region, all the police, officers, and ranking personnel were released by order of the revolution leadership and returned to their families and children, as most of them were from the region.
Barzani then moved his headquarters to Hiran, and other Peshmerga forces were stationed in the villages of the Khoshnawati Valley such as Aquban, Spindara, Kawartian, and Baraka. With the victory of the Peshmerga Forces in that battle, Mount Hawre, up to the foothills of Mount Safin on the road from Hiran towards Shaqlawa, which is called the Hiran Valley, completely fell into the hands of the Peshmerga Forces, and they took up positions against the Iraqi government forces.
After losing a wide area of land in the Khoshnawati region, the Iraqi government had nothing left but to resort to intensive bombardment of the region with artillery, mortars, and warplanes from Shaqlawa and the top of Mount Safin. As a result of that bombardment, on August 15, 1962, Peshmerga commander Mahmoud Kawani and three Peshmerga were martyred.
Sources:1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, Aylul Revolution 1961-1975, First Edition 2004.
2- Haji Mirhan Dolamari, In Search of Justice, Volume One, Second Edition 2021.
3- Khurshid Shera, Struggle and Blood, Memoirs of the Years of Peshmerga Struggle, Third Edition, Erbil, 2015.
4- Ghazi Adil Gardi, A Peshmerga in the Service of Barzani's Path, Haji Berokhi, Volume One, Second Edition, Turkey, 2021.
5- Shawkat Mullah Ismail Hassan, Days in the History of the Aylul Revolution, First Edition, Erbil, 2007.
7- Ari Karim, Several Living Pages from the Aylul Revolution, Khabat Printing House, Duhok 1999.