Biography

Ali Shaban was born in 1925 in the village of Hesnka, belonging to the Mergasor district in the Mosul Vilayet and the current Erbil Governorate. At the request of Mustafa Barzani, he went to study. After his return from the Soviet Union, on April 16, 1959, he and his companions returned to the city of Basra in southern Iraq via the water route and the Georgia ship. In 1975, after the collapse of the Aylul Revolution he became a refugee in Iran and resided in the city of Karaj, near the Iranian capital, Tehran. In 1995, during the civil war in the Kasnazan area of Erbil, he and his son, Hamza, were martyred. 

Struggle Record

 In 1943, he took up arms in the Second Barzan Revolution (1943-1945) and participated in most of the battles. On October 11, 1945, after the collapse of the Second Barzan Revolution, along with Mustafa Barzani and his companions, they crossed into Eastern Kurdistan. After the establishment of the Republic of Kurdistan in Mahabad, on March 31, 1946, he defended the Republic within the framework of the Barzan force.

After the fall of the Republic of Kurdistan and the return of Mustafa Barzani from Eastern Kurdistan to Southern Kurdistan, he participated in the defense battles of Eastern Kurdistan until he did not surrender on the Iran-Iraq border on April 19, 1947, and was with General Mustafa Barzani General Mustafa Barzani held a meeting with his companions in the village of Argosh on May 6, 1947, and gave them the choice to stay or go to the Soviet Union. There, all his companions decided to continue and go to the Soviet Union. On May 22, 1947, he accompanied General Mustafa Barzani towards the Soviet Union and participated in the Battle of Qotur (Kotol) and the Battle of the Maku Bridge. After much hardship and fatigue, on June 18, 1947, he crossed the Aras River, which is located on the border between Iran and the Soviet Union, into the Soviet Union.

After arriving in the Soviet Union, on June 19, 1947, he and all his companions were placed in an open-air complex surrounded by barbed wire in the city of Nakhchivan in the Republic of Azerbaijan for forty days. They were guarded by a group of soldiers and were treated like prisoners of war in terms of food, clothing, and movement. Later, by the decision of the Soviet government, they were distributed among the regions of Aghdam, Lachin, Ayulakh, and Kalbajar in the Republic of Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1947, they were moved to a military camp on the Caspian Sea in Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and on the 23rd of the same month, they were given military uniforms and underwent eight hours of military training daily under the supervision of officers of the Republic of Azerbaijan. At the same time, for four hours a day, some of their companions who were literate taught them Kurdish language lessons.

After Jafar Bagirov's poor treatment of the Barzani companions, it was decided that the military camp of the Barzani companions would be moved from the Republic of Azerbaijan on August 29, 1948, to the Charchuk complex near Tashkent, the capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan, where they continued their military training.

In March 1949, he and his companions were distributed in groups and teams by train to the collective villages of the Soviet Union and worked on the collective farms (Kolkhozes) (the lands that people rented from the government and later gave back the government's share).

After much effort and sending several letters by General Mustafa Barzani to Stalin, a letter finally reached Stalin in which Mustafa Barzani described the hardships of his companions, and he immediately decided to form a committee to investigate the situation of the Barzani companions. Eventually, the committee's decision was that they should all be gathered in the city of Vrevsky, so he went to the city of Vrevsky in the Soviet Union in November 1951.

In 1958, the Republic of Iraq was established under the presidency of Abdul Karim Qasim. Ali Shaban returned to Kurdistan on April 16, 1959, with his companions on the ship Georgia via the port of Basra in the south of the Republic of Iraq. 

At the beginning of the Aylul Revolution in 1961, Ali Shaban returned to the ranks of the Peshmerga of the great Aylul Revolution, which was under the leadership of President Mustafa Barzani  Ali Shaban participated heroically in all the battles in the Barzan regions where the enemy launched a fierce attack, and because of his bravery and heroism, by the order of President Mustafa Barzani  he became the first person in charge of the Barzani headquarters and had a significant role in providing Peshmerga headquarters in the regions of Barzan, Rikan, Berwari, Mizuri, Doski, Sindi, Dinarite, Sidekan, and Balak. 

In 1963, by the order of President Mustafa Barzani he went to the Betwata area and became the commander of the Betwata battalion. In the great Aylul Revolution, by the order of President Mustafa Barzani he was made the commander of the Betwata force in the Khoshnaweti and Betwen border area and participated heroically in several battles and confrontations with the enemy. He had a major role in the revolution in terms of administration, military, and social affairs. In that border area, during the great Aylul Revolution, in addition to being a battalion commander, he was a representative of President Mustafa Barzani He paid great attention to development in the Khoshnaweti and Betwen border area by building roads, bridges, and public places such as the Dardeshir road and the Sawsikan road, which is still known as the Ali Shaban road.

In 1970, after the March 11, 1970 agreement and the formation of the border guard forces, he became a battalion commander in the Balisan border area. 

After the success of the Iranian people's revolution against the Shah of Iran on February 11, 1979, Ali Shaban returned to Eastern Kurdistan, and in 1979, after the Ninth Congress, he became the commander of the 15th Force. This force consisted of several organizations affiliated with the Freedom Area Committee. He had a prominent role in the Gulan Revolution . Participated in the 1991 Uprising and held several responsibilities after the Uprising. On January 14, 1995, he and his son named Hamza were martyred in the civil war in Kasnazan, Erbil city. 

Sources:

1- Khabat Newspaper, Wednesday, September 19, 2007, Part One, page 5, The Role of the Martyr Commander Ali Shaban in the Great Aylul Revolution, Safar Yusuf Mirxan Zhazhoki.

2- Khabat Newspaper, Thursday, September 20, 2007, Part Two, page 5, The Role of the Martyr Commander Ali Shaban in the Great Aylul Revolution, Safar Yusuf Mirxan Zhazhoki.

3- Archive of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Committee.