At the beginning of the eighties of the last century, the activities of the Peshmerga had expanded to such an extent that they covered most areas of Southern Kurdistan. These activities were carried out in a guerrilla manner within villages, cities, and towns. For this reason, great confusion had arisen within the ranks of the Iraqi Army. These guerrilla activities consisted mainly of striking the regime's men who were oppressing the people, as well as setting ambushes on the roads of military and security forces and attacking their strongholds and military bases. As a result, the Ba'ath regime suffered heavy losses in terms of killed, wounded, and the capture of thousands of soldiers, officers, and security personnel. In addition, a huge amount of weapons and ammunition became the spoils of the revolution. One of these guerrilla activities was the seizure of the Dwazda Milane outpost near the city of Zakho.
A Peshmerga force belonging to the Renjbaran organization, led by Muhammad Murad, and the Martyr Hamid organization, led by Jabar Muhammad, in the Badinan region, prepared themselves to carry out a guerrilla activity. Initially, they held a meeting in the village of Peraka. In that meeting, to continue the struggle, they decided to carry out an activity to deal a fatal blow to the forces of the Ba'ath regime. After the map and plan were drawn up in the meeting, they set off towards the village of Cham Sirmo. After night fell, they took the path along the Khabur River towards Zakho. When they were near the city, the military and security forces of the Iraqi government had set an ambush on the eastern side of the Khabur River. When they approached, the scouts of the force realized the presence of the ambush, quickly returned along their path, and escaped the ambush.
After the entire force reunited, they promised not to give up and to try again, and not to return to their bases until they achieved their goal. Right there, it was decided to attack a military stronghold of the Iraqi Army called the (Dwazda Milane) outpost, which overlooked the Khabur River near the city of Zakho. At 9:30 o'clock at night, the Peshmerga force reached the vicinity of the outpost and simultaneously opened fire with RPGs, grenades, and the weapons they had in their hands. Then they stormed the outpost. In a short time, they were able to silence the outpost, seize it, and inflict heavy losses on the soldiers of the outpost.
As a result, they seized several weapons and ammunition from the outpost's soldiers, including: 6 Kalashnikov rifles and 5 boxes of Russian ammunition of the same type of weapon, one (RPG) and 8 shells, one Grinov machine gun with a thousand rounds of the same type, as well as one box of grenades and a lot of military equipment were seized. However, at the time the Peshmerga attacked the outpost, a large military force from Zakho set off towards the battle site to support the regime's military force, but the Peshmerga force collected their spoils very quickly, decided to withdraw, and left the place.
On that same night, by morning, the Peshmerga force reached the village of Peraka. They sent a telegram about carrying out the guerrilla activity to the Zakho District Committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and they expressed their warm thanks and appreciation to the officials and Peshmerga of both mentioned organizations for the bravery they recorded. The next day, the Iraqi government, as it did in other places, shelled the area. In addition, it sent several warplanes over the area and carried out intense bombing, but fortunately for the residents, it did not result in any damage. It is worth noting that this Peshmerga activity had a great impact because it was close to Zakho and also caused damage to the Ba'ath regime's forces, for which the people were very happy.
Sources:1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Four, 1975- 1990 Gulan Revolution, Part Two, First Edition, Roxana Printing House, 2021.
2- Murad, Muhammad, Khabata Chia, Memories and Events of the Gulan Revolution between the years (176-1989), Kurdistan Printing House – Zakho, 2007.
3- Gardi, Ghazi Adil, A Peshmerga in the Service of the Barzani Path, Haji Birokhi, Volume Two, Second Edition, Turkey- 2021.
4- Zebari, Shimal, Some Hidden Truths in the Gulan Revolution, First Edition, Rojhalat Printing House, Erbil – 2015.