At the end of October 1974, the Iraqi Army forces occupied both Mount Zozik and Sartiz, and fortified their outposts and positions on those heights. According to Qadir Hassan Sitkani, a Peshmerga of the September Revolution and a participant in the Hasnan battle, until a few days before the battle of Hasnan, the Peshmerga held one of the two peaks of Mount Sartiz. Because of this, the government did not have the ability to advance further toward the Beshe Pass and Mount Hasan Beg. However, when the Peshmerga force retreated from that peak, the Iraqi Army had more freedom of action and included the plan to occupy the Beshe Pass and the peak of Mount Hasan Beg in its occupation plans. By capturing those two locations, it would have authority over the entire region, and their positions on Mount Sartiz would be protected. After the Peshmerga forces retreated to the Beshe Pass in the east of Mount Sartiz, the government resumed its assault movements. The Peshmerga force established its positions around the village of Hasnan at the foot of Mount Hasan Beg to stop the Iraqi Army's advances. The Beshe Pass was where the main base of the Peshmerga force was located, which was supervised by the military leader Haji Birokhi, a battalion commander. In that same place, there was a cemetery where most of the Peshmerga who were martyred in the battles of the region and its surroundings were buried, so they called it the Martyrs' Cemetery.
Regarding how the Battle of Hasnan occurred, Ali Faizi Sitkani, a Peshmerga of both the September and Gulan revolutions and a participant in the battle, spoke to us as follows: He said: We were a Peshmerga branch whose headquarters was in the Beshe Pass, commanded by Hassan Agha Barziwai. However, for the Peshmerga mission and to defend against the Iraqi Army's advances, we had taken positions in the village of Hasnan. When the entire Mount Sartiz fell into the hands of the government forces, we saw that their troop movements and the opening of a road for tanks and armored vehicles in the Srot Pass were suspicious. It smelled of an attack on the Peshmerga positions, in order to break those positions and reach both the Beshe Pass and the peak of Mount Hasan Beg. The Peshmerga force, to stop their advances and thwart their designs and plans, established their positions at the foot of the mountain. At the beginning of the night, according to a military plan to obtain information about the army's movements, we sent a detachment of five Peshmerga to the front of the positions toward the village of Nawroin at the foot of Hasan Beg. After a while, our detachment returned without noticing any departure or advancement of the army.
The aforementioned continued in his narrative and said: Some of us were resting in the village houses, and the other part was on duty below the village, and from time to time we took turns keeping watch. Near dawn on March 13, 1975, one of the Peshmerga on watch informed us that the government had attacked. The Peshmerga who were in the positions and the rest of us got up, divided ourselves across the location, and began to fortify the positions and resist the attack and the advance of the army soldiers. Although the darkness of the night had completely covered the ground, we felt that a large force of the Iraqi Army was busy digging holes below our positions. The sound of their axes, shovels, and pickaxes could be heard, but we were unaware that the advancing military force of the army had come very close to our positions. Those Peshmerga positions that had been set up, due to the intense cold, had taken shelter alongside boulders, trees, and shrubs. They had only become aware of the soldiers who were busy digging holes for the purpose of setting up positions, because those who had advanced had approached the Peshmerga positions very quietly, so they did not notice them.
In the continuation of his speech, the aforementioned said: After we divided ourselves among several positions, we were able to create a shelter with boulders for the confrontation. It did not take long before suddenly one of the Peshmerga shouted and said: (Shoot them, may I be a sacrifice for you, do not let them escape). Apparently, at that moment, he had realized that the soldiers were so close that the rocky ridge where the Peshmerga had taken shelter on one side, the soldiers were lurking on the other side. With the rising of the Peshmerga's voice, shooting started from all sides and the battle heated up. The direction of our rifle barrels was toward those soldiers who were busy digging holes below. With the burst of Peshmerga gunfire, their shouts and moans arose; it seemed that they were hit by our bullets. However, we saw that another group of soldiers had approached so closely that it was almost a hand-to-hand fight. Apparently, with the start of the burst of gunfire, the Peshmerga was martyred, those who had taken positions in the shelter of the rocky ridge.
Then the battle continued until sunrise; we broke the government's attack and they fled downward. In the heat of that battle, two Peshmerga also disappeared and later their whereabouts were unknown. Then the Iraqi Army began shelling the Peshmerga positions; it did not even spare its own forces from the shelling. Although we broke the government's attacks and advances, it became clear to us that the government force was beyond count. Our remaining in the location would cause more losses, so we retreated our forces to the Beshe Pass.
Also, Qadir Hassan Sitkani confirmed and said: Although we were able to defeat the government's attack and chase them downward, they did not have the courage to attack again. But when the horizon was completely bright, we saw that the advance of the tanks and armored vehicles was still approaching and had reached the foothills of the lands of Hasnan village. At the same time, a lot of snow had fallen, and a great cold and frost had exhausted us. It was very difficult to withstand the shelling, the tank advances, and the cold and frost, so we retreated our forces.
In the continuation of his account, the aforementioned said: As the forces of the Iraqi Army approached the Beshe pass, where the Peshmerga force, commanded by Haji Berokhi, confronted them from the heights above the pass for nearly two hours, every Military soldier who approached the Martyrs of the Revolution cemetery was targeted with a Brno rifle. In that short time, they killed dozens of soldiers and inflicted heavy losses on them. Despite that, from time to time, several combat helicopters appeared in the sky of the area and bombed the Peshmerga positions. We saw one of the helicopters hit by a DShK weapon and brought down. Then, due to the bombing by aircraft, artillery shelling, and the advance of tanks and armored vehicles, the Peshmerga force retreated from the Beshe pass and ascended to the heights of the slopes of Mount Hasan Beg.
Sources:1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part Two, First Edition, Erbil 2004.
2- Interview with Qadir Hasan Sitkani, Peshmerga of the September Revolution, resident of Soran, Nahri neighborhood. March 27, 2026.
3- Interview with Ali Faizi Sitkani, Peshmerga of the September and Gulan Revolutions, Soran, Sitkan village. March 15, 2026.
4- Ghazi Adil Gardi, A Peshmerga in the Service of Barzani ... Haji Berokhi, Volume One, Second Edition, 2020.