Birth and life
In (1943), with the birth of (Sanaan Ahmed), the second Barzani revolution also sparked. When Argosh was bombed in 1947, Sanaan was not afraid of the sound of the planes and the bombing because he was still a 4-year-old child. However, when the government returned to Argosh at the end of 1947, they frightened them with police, and he did not even realize that his father was one of the policemen. As he says himself: "When the police returned to Argosh, because it was the first time we had seen them, we were afraid".
Sanaan, because he was of the generation after the opening of schools, went to night school and, because of the kerosene lamps, completed two grades of schooling.
In the interview we conducted with him on (25 and 26/2/2016) at his home in the Jundian neighborhood of Soran, Sanaan, after recounting the events of each battle, would lament the lack of Kurdish unity and say: "Kurds have always ruined each other's homes."
My father was one of the officials of the Iraqi government with the rank of (Rais Urafa) and had the Barwari and Rekani areas under his control, until he retired after 1961.
How was it possible to manage (500) people as guests of Barzani:
It was poverty; in a season when they were our guests, supplies were very scarce. At that time, the Peshmerga used to say "This 'stirk' has killed us." (Stirk) is a type of spring herb that the people of Argosh eat a lot of. They stayed in most of the houses in the village of Argosh, such as the houses of (Adle Muhammad, Shukri Sharif, Muhammad Amin Faq Sheikh). There was plenty of (tala, millet, and wheat). They say Sheikh Suleiman himself and some of his men were in our houses. Our family were shepherds and we were in the (Bizinia) highlands, meaning whoever was a shepherd had no problem. They stayed in Argosh for nearly a month.
After Mulla Mustafa left Argosh, the (Rekani) came to Argosh and did not leave us a single animal. Also, planes bombed Argosh and we all went to the caves. I was a child; a woman had put me on her back and in her fear left me behind. Because I was a child, I did not feel fear, so I watched the planes.
In that bombing, the family of (Ali Maste) were hit, who were the cousins of (Oghz and Smo). (9) people from their family were killed. A bomb had fallen in the middle of their house; only their father was not at home. When the plane came, they had all run under a rock near their house and a missile fell among them and killed them all. One of them named (Wazir), who was a very handsome young man, was wounded for several months, but due to the lack of a doctor, he lost his life. His mother (Lezgin) was also wounded in that bombing. After the bombing, the Rekani came and completely looted Argosh, only they did not take the livestock of the Gawargis, because (Amin Gawargi) was with them.
As far as I know, Argosh was looted when Barzani went to Iran, and it was looted and bombed in the same way when he went to the Soviet Union.
How was the situation in Argosh after Barzani left for the Soviet Union:
The government returned to Argosh and the police station came back. Whoever left went with Barzani, and whoever stayed, stayed. I remember I was a child and we were afraid; they said the government had come and would hurt us, because we had not seen police before.
Another life began. I remember that the whole of Argosh had three (tents). All the work in Argosh was done by carrying on the back. We would go to Shirwan and bring oil on our backs. Some of them would have oil on their backs on the way and would get wounded, and the skin on their backs would be gone and burned.
The Rekanis also constantly teased us and blocked our way. They often took the livestock of the (Mam Sayid family) and never returned them, until the time when Mirza Agha improved his relations with the government and fewer problems were created for us by the Rekanis.
(Abdulaziz Safe, Hajik Muhammad, Saeed Safe, and Jasim Saadi), because they had participated in the Republic of Mahabad, were fugitives for several years. (Ziro Aziz, Rashid Aziz, Khosti Sanjo, and Jam Ali), who had returned from Russia, were also fugitives.
Then (Khosti and Jam), when they returned home secretly, there were spies at that time. The government went into the house and took them out and arrested them. (Ziro and Rashid) were not arrested and were fugitives for a long time. Later, (Rashid) was also sentenced to three years, but the government was not sure if they had gone with Barzani. Even (Jasim), the brother of (Qasim), lost his life in Kirkuk prison. Some of the people of Argosh had testified against him; they had told the government that when Mulla Mustafa came to Argosh, Jasim was with him.
How was the situation after Barzani's return:
After Barzani returned, life changed and became better. The Turkish government had previously created many problems for us and made travel difficult, but after Barzani returned, the Turks also softened. They did not create problems for citizens at the borders. Otherwise, I remember our animals would go to (Hajil) and the Turkish soldiers would come and take our animals.
Until that time, many of the tribes were still our enemies. After Barzani's return, the Sufis prepared themselves to attack Argosh. It was then that (Muhammad Agha Kaleti) sent word to the people of Argosh and informed them that the Sufis had prepared to attack Argosh, so we also sent word to Barzan and we took all the surroundings of Argosh up to the village of (Glalna).
I was young, but they told me (Oghz) is one man, you also come and take (Oghz)'s weapon and go with (Fatah Omar) so he is not alone. I went with Fatah and them to behind the village of (Glalna), (when we got there I was just sleeping straight, in the morning I said to Fatah: "Uncle, where did I wake up?", Fatah replied: "Uncle, you were very awake until that moment you did not move"). The answer reached the Sufis that we had prepared ourselves, so they did not come to Argosh.
In 1961, the Argoshis, along with everyone else, started the revolution and went to the Argosh police station. Those who went to the base, one of them was (Shamdin), who was the Agha of the Argoshis at that time. Later, the policemen were released and they took out all the weapons and ammunition that were in their base. The weapons that were taken from the base were all moved to the battlefronts, because they were all Peshmerga and were without weapons.
I also became a Peshmerga at that time, but I did not have a weapon. When Barzani decided on the revolution, I also went to Pires with the Peshmerga, even though (Fatah Omar) told me: You are a child, but I said I am coming anyway. It was that when we went to Pires, there was the sound of gunfire, I was scared, (Fatah) told me, do not move away from me or you will get lost.
It was a moonlit night, we went to the village of (Amada), which is a village of the Surchis where there was a (company of Quwat Sayyar). We were (40) Argoshis, (20) of them had weapons and (20) were without weapons. In that battle, (Mam Gulik, Saeed Abdulwahab, Haji Haidar, and Fatah Omar) were with us. We went, I do not know if it was (10 or 11) o'clock at night, we had agreed to strike that Quwat Sayyar battalion that had been set for us before.
A group had set an ambush for us, they had fortified themselves in the place of two hills that were in the middle of our path. When we reached between them, both sides made each other aware. In that warning, they fired at us, there were (15) people in both outposts. (Gulik) went directly to face the outpost, if Gulik had not gone this way, they would not have left any of us. The battle continued for about half an hour, Gulik said "I took them all out of the outpost and fortunately no one was hurt, because when Uncle Gulik reached the outpost there were (7) people in it and they surrendered, then he told them to tell your friends to stop the fighting and the fighting was stopped.
That night we reached Amada, Mullah Mustafa was at the top of Akre with (200) men and fell into an ambush of the Jash and the Iraqi government, the battle was like putting fire to straw. (Mirza Agha of Mergasor) and someone from (Silke village) and many others were martyred in that ambush. Also, a machine gunner who was from (Edlbe village) was lost with the machine gun and until the next year his body was not found. Mullah Mustafa escaped the ambush and turned around and returned to the top of Pires mountain. When Barzani reached the outpost of the Fellas who were armed, they had not fired, they had reached Mullah Mustafa and became part of his force.
In that battle at the top of Akre, (80) people were lost with (Eisa Siwar). (Eisa Siwar) had gone into the Zebaris with his men and after a week their letters came, they said we are safe and we have captured (17-18) Zebari villages. From the Argoshis, (Abdullah Numan and Haji Haidar Argoshi) were with Mullah Mustafa.
When the battle of the group that had set the ambush was finished, for fear of the sound of our gunfire, the Quwat Sayyar battalion, which was in the village of Amada, had abandoned their place and fled, meaning we entered the village without a fight and the people of the village also left their homes and belongings.
It was near noon, about (12) o'clock, we brought food for (Mam Gulik, Ahmed, Fatah, Hasane Rhane, Haji Rashid, Mustafa Ali, Bakr Gulik, etc.) because they had gone under a hill that was above us and the government was there. They were firing some shots at those outposts on the hill. We reached our group, the Jash surrounded us and fired at us and the government also started firing with a machine gun. We stood under a tree, not a single leaf remained on the tree and the Peshmerga had very few machine guns at that time, we did not have any.
Some beehives were next to the village of Amada, (Hamo Haidar) had also gone to cut honey, he fled from that gunfire and returned to our group inside the village of Amada. Just as he had set fire to the bees to cut them, he left them like that and the bees also burned. It was that (Mam Gulik) and his group turned around and it became a hot battle until the Jash were defeated and moved away. At that time I asked (Uncle Ahmo) to give me his weapon so that I could also fire some shots with it, and it was that I fired for the first time in that battle and participated in the battle. When I fired, I was very happy.
Our group fought the battle with those weapons that were of the (English) type and had been obtained from the (Qishla) of the Argosh police station along with their ammunition.
The English weapon has a shorter range than the Brno, it was an English weapon so it was called English, it was the only Iraqi weapon for that time that was used more than all other weapons.
The battle was in the beginning of autumn, because there was fruit such as (pomegranates and grapes), those things were plentiful. Our clothes were (wool, sweaters, etc.), we got a lot of clothes from the (Quwat Sayyar) headquarters, there were no jackets and cloaks to protect against the cold.
In the battle of Amada, we did not see any enemy corpses left behind, the spoils were only some bullets and small things, otherwise the government had not left anything of its own. We had no casualties in that battle, but on our return, (the son of Ismail-e Shange) of the Mizuri was martyred. We do not know how many people were killed from the enemy, but it was a battle without count.
We were the first group to reach the company of Quwat Sayyar, the next day the Dolamaris and other Mizuris came, among the Dolamaris (Omar Agha) was with them.
The force that was present was one company (mobile force), meaning we can say there were only (50) people. When we attacked the force, the people of Amada village had fled before them, but they had not taken any of their belongings because they were also part of the government and were cooperating with the government. However, before the attack, Mela Mustafa had informed us that it is necessary to call the people of the village before the attack and tell them: We are brothers, do not engage in fratricide. When we went to the battle, we had previously implemented that instruction of Barzani, and one of our comrades raised that request to those mercenaries who had come to fight us, but they insulted us, so one of our group fired a bullet, hit him, and killed him.
We chose Amada because it was a favorable location, and the government had a presence in every area of the Pires mountain. Amada was in one of the easier locations for us to attack, but after a few days, we retreated and returned to Pires mountain.
Mela Mustafa returned from Akre to the side of (Sept) village. Even we, (15) people, came down from Pires mountain with (Fatah) into (Sept) village. Fatah asked the village head to give them food. The village head said, "There is no food left, and we have nothing to give you. We are (16) households living in this village; I have provided food for (500) people so far." Finally, Fatah told him, "Fine, since there is no food, I will go and tell Mela Mustafa to find a solution for me, then he will buy us an animal, or whatever he does, otherwise we cannot live without food." When Fatah said this, the village head said, "Wait, do not tell Mela Mustafa yet." The village head searched the village, brought us household food and bread, along with a jug of yogurt, and we ate and got up.
Finally, Sheikh Ahmed began negotiations with the Iraqi government, and the war moved away from the Barzan areas, and the police stations returned.
Our forces dispersed. We returned to Argosh, and some people went with Mela Mustafa to the Barwari areas, including (Osman Mikail, a brother of Osman, Hassan-e Ado). I think that was all of them. The following year, (Hamid Haydar, Nazmi Shukri, Ibrahim, Asad-e Miste Hale, and Abbas-e Alike) left because they could not return to Argosh for fear of the government due to the events of 1961 and the attack on the Argosh police station, so they were forced to reach Mela Mustafa and Asad Khoshawi.
After 1961, the government returned to Argosh. For several years, it was just negotiations. (Sheikh Ahmed) had decided on negotiations. The war then moved away from the Barzan areas; there was more fighting in the (Soran and Barwari) areas. The war was not a front-line war because the Peshmerga did not have bases; they moved from one area to another. Until 1963, the war continued in this way.
Only Asad Khoshawi opened a headquarters inside Barwari in a village called (Qumrie). The situation of the Peshmerga was very bad; they had nothing. Their clothing was just (wool garments, sweaters, and simple things), just so the Peshmerga would not be naked, otherwise they had nothing. Later, khaki clothing appeared, which was through the aid of the Kurds of Syria and Turkey. That is, after 1963, the aid began. The Kurds of Turkey brought medicine, and the Kurds of Syria brought clothing and shemaghs along with food, but the Northern Party helped the revolution a lot.
The Battle of Pires
In the summer of 1963, we prepared ourselves for war again and went back to Pires to recapture it, and Mela Mustafa was in (Isomeria). I also knew that Barzani was in the area, so I asked to go and see him. So, with Haji Haydar and the others, we went. Opinions were exchanged on how we could attack Pires mountain to expel the Iraqi government. Each of the people present expressed their opinion, and Mela Mustafa would tell them: "That opinion is not complete." Once, he looked to his side and saw Haji Haydar and told him: "Haji, I have forgotten you; you also give your opinion." Haji said: "My master, the opinion is your opinion; we have no opinion." Mela Mustafa forced Haji to give his opinion. So, after listening to Haji Haydar's opinion, Mela Mustafa said: "Haji, you spoke more beautifully than everyone, but your opinion is also not complete." Then Haji Haydar said: "My lord, didn't I tell you from the beginning that we have no opinion and the opinion is only your opinion?"
So the attack was carried out, half of the mountain was liberated, we had (4-5) martyrs and (8) wounded. Once again, the mountain was abandoned. Barzani was angry at the group and told them: "We gave all these sacrifices, why did you abandon the mountain again?" So the mountain was not recaptured.
That war lasted more than a month. The Iraqi government, with the help of the mercenaries, wanted to reach Barzan. To defend Barzan, a large Iraqi force came upon us to capture Barzan. Mela Mustafa sent us a message telling us that he could not send them help. We gathered; we were Mizuri and Argoshi. No one was in favor of defending, except Qasim-e Saadi, who said: "Let's defend; we have no women or children with us. We will be in our place until the government reaches us." But the group was not ready to fight the war; they said: "When we fight the war, our escape is difficult."
Bire-Kepra is located opposite Barzan at the foot of Pires. By the time we retreated and reached near the river, the enemy force had arrived. By the time we prepared ourselves for confrontation, they had built a bridge, crossed over, launched an attack on Barzan, captured Barzan, and burned it.
Mela Mustafa stood up there, and we stood up. Barzan was burned, and (Mela Shni), (Hussein Muhammad Agha of Mergasor), and a machine gunner who was Iranian named (Abdullah) were martyred in that battle, along with several others.
In that attack, the Iraqi forces were very numerous, numbering (60-70) thousand people, while the Peshmerga were perhaps (500) people. Mullah Mustafa himself led the Peshmerga. The Peshmerga consisted of (Dolemari, Sherwani, Mizuri, "Silki and Argoshi"). Each village had its own leader. The Argoshis who participated in the battle were: (Haji Haydar, Saeed Abdulwahab, Fatah Omar, Hasan-e Rehani, Mam Gulik, Asad Rashid, Mawlud, Saeed Abdulrahman Agha, Kazim Mustafa, Hamid Haydar, Hashim, Abbas, Bakr Alik, Asad-e Miste Hale, Islam Kamo, Nasir-e Pire, Ughz). We were (40) people.
That battle took place in the harvest season, meaning it was early summer. In the field, there was wheat in the ground. It had been (10) days since an old woman and an old man had come to harvest. They had finished harvesting the wheat when a plane came and burned all their harvest.
The enemy fought us in that battle with aircraft and artillery. (19) cannons were operating on that front, which were positioned in Dinarta and were firing at Barzan, Mount Pires, and all other places. The enemy's human casualties were unknown to us.
Pires itself is a rugged and narrow mountain. The Peshmerga were not successful on that mountain. For the Iraqi government, fighting in Pires was favorable.
Battle of Sari Matina
After the Iraqi government retreated from Barzan, they launched an attack towards the Barwari regions and fought for (44) days, and they had taken a wide area from the hands of the Peshmerga and Asad Khoshawi. In that attack, the Peshmerga had been defeated and had approached the border of Turkey, and Asad and his Peshmerga were in a bad Situation. Sheikh Ahmed asked (Haji Haydar Argoshi) to go to Asad's aid, because until the autumn of 1963, negotiations had not begun with the government, so (Haji Haydar) went with (25) people to Asad's aid.
That victory came after the humanitarian aid that reached Asad Khoshawi from the Argoshis led by (Haji Haydar Argoshi), because it caused the Peshmerga's morale to rise, despite their small number, which was only (25) people, consisting of (Hashim and Haji-e Abdulla, Salimok, brother of Haji Haydar, Rashko-e Mawati, Hasan Rashid, etc.). However, I was not with them in that battle, so I do not know exactly who was with Haji Haydar.
Some of the Kurdish tribes participated in the battle with (1000) to (2000) thousand Jash to assist the government. Many people were killed from the Iraqi government; (17-18) bodies had fallen into the hands of the Argoshis alone in a place in Barwari they called (Sari Gabnerke).
In that battle, the son of Isa Siwar, named (Muhammad Isa Siwar), was martyred along with (6) people by artillery fire that had fallen on them. All of them were from the village of (Silke).
When we were defeated in the Battle of Pires in 1963, we were transferred. (Fatah Omar) had been sent to the Khelan bridge. I do not know how it happened, but once I was with Barzani, and after the guests decreased, he asked for food to be brought to them. After eating, he said to him, "Fatah, tell me what happened." Fatah said: "Iraqi soldiers have approached, we are asking to blow up the Khelan bridge, but (Muqaddam Kafi) does not allow it and is preventing it. What is your order?" Mullah Mustafa said: "Go and blow up the Khelan bridge." They also put some TNT in a bag for Fatah and said to them, "God be with you and go safely." On that front, too, the Peshmerga were defeated.
In the same year, the Iraqi government attacked Sherwan, and Fatah came from Sherwan to stop the Iraqi government. The force of (Haji Berokhi) was there. In that battle for Sherwan, (60 to 70) Jash were killed, and Fatah Omar was hit by two bullets in that battle and was martyred.
In the battle, they had left Fatah's body behind. (Haji Berokhi) had asked the group, "Where is Fatah?" The group replied that Fatah was missing. Directly, Haji had said, "Fatah has been martyred, because he would not run away." So they returned and brought back Fatah's body. Fortunately, the Iraqi government was defeated in that battle.
After the Battle of (Sari Matina - 1963), I also reached (Haji Haydar Argoshi) and their group. We were transferred to Isa Siwar in Zakho. We stayed in Zakho until the revolution ended. The Argoshis would come and go from time to time, but those who were constantly there were (Sanaan Ahmed, Ali Salih, Ali Shahin, Hashim, Izzat, Ahmed-e Azizke, Haji-e Abdulla, Haji-e Muhammad). The Argoshis would come and return a lot, but after the March 11 agreement, a group of Mawaties came and reached (Ali Salih). The force was large, and (10) more people from the Argoshis came to us.
In 1963, when we went to Zakho to Isa Siwar, our leader was mostly (Haji Haydar). One year, (Qasim Saadi) was our leader. For a while, it was (Muhammad Agha). For a while, (Saeed's) headquarters was moved to (Hawriske), a village among the Sindis. (10) people from the Argoshis went there, including (Nazmi Shukri, Haji-e Abdulla, Kazim-e Miste, etc.). We also stayed with Haji Haydar at Isa Siwar's place.
Battle of (Blan) in 1964
One winter we were with (Hasso Mirxan) in Blan. (Blan) is an area you reach via (Mriba) before you get to Dohuk. There was a warehouse of Peshmerga supplies and ammunition there. I went with the Palanis; we were (11) people. We had gone to that area to aid (Hasso Mirxan), and our leader was (Sadiq Palani).
Inside (Mizuri-e Zheri), some of the Peshmerga had become Jash. (Abdulla Agha - from the Mizuri-e Zheri tribe and a resident of Mriba village) was the head of the Jash at that time, but he sent us news that tomorrow at 11 o'clock the government would attack us. We prepared ourselves for the attack. At the time (Abdulla) had specified, tanks appeared, numbering (11) tanks. Our position was good; behind the village was a mountain. Later, a large force of Peshmerga arrived to help us, and (Malik Hurmiz-e Fale) also came to our aid with (100) people. We defeated the government. Our number reached (200 to 300) people by the end of the battle. (4) enemy bodies were left behind, which were (one sergeant and three Jash), and 2 of (Hurmiz's) Peshmerga were wounded.
The gains of the battle, which lasted (one) day, were only the weapons of the corpses; one weapon was picked up by (Faq Omar Pindroy), which was an English one, and one of them was taken by (Tafo Gwezi), who now lives in Qushtapa.
When Hormzi also came and entered the village, the tanks were very afraid and fled. Hormzi's good weapon was (German), he used it to fight the tanks, which had no effect on the tanks at all.
The enemy wanted to seize the revolution's depot that was in (Blan). Finally, they were defeated and left and did not return. The next day, women came and took the bodies of the Jash and soldiers back.
Once again, we were in the vicinity of (Kanika) village. The village had been evacuated before and there was no one in it. An airplane bombed us while we were busy slaughtering the animals that Hasso Mirxan had given us. The airplane's bombing was on the people's homes and property, and the airplanes dropped gas barrels in that bombing, which caused the burning of Kanika village.
When the people of the village saw their village burning, in their distress over the burning of their village, despite having previously left their homes, they returned to the village and there was the crying of women, families, and children. More than (9) houses were burned. A bomb also fell in the middle of the house that was Hasso's headquarters; it was a large two-story mansion, and it brought it down completely. Hasso later told the owner of the house that when you start repairing it, we will help you. Fortunately, due to the evacuation of the village, there were no casualties.
In 1964, our group went to (Ain Zala), still Hashim Merozi was alive, (Ain Zala) was captured. In the battle to capture Ain Zala, (Omar Agha Dolamari, Nazmi Nerwayi) were wounded. Finally, (Nazmi Nerwayi) died from that bullet.
Chamkurke and Qaraula battle
In the spring of 1965, we went out for a detachment. (Abdulrahim Jasim Pindroy) was our leader, and we were about (50) Peshmerga. There was a guard post in (Chamkurke) which was located between Ibrahim Khalil and Zakho, and there were Jash in it. We attacked them, we killed (5) people out of the (13) who were inside the guard post, and the others were also wounded.
We had a Qazifa Sarokh with us, it was much stronger than an RPG. (Ali Darwish) had cut two people into two pieces with the Qazifa Sarokh. In the battle, which lasted an hour, we tried very hard to capture the guard post, but one of the people who was defending was very smart and did not let us get close. The next day, a car went to (Chamkurke) village to help them. On the way back, we blocked their path and there was a sergeant of the army in it, we captured him. He told us that no one was left inside that guard post, except for one person who was wounded. Later, we also captured a Jash inside the village and then we retreated. In that battle, we only used light weapons and fortunately we had no losses.
The next day we went towards (Qaraula), which was located above Ibrahim Khalil, there was a guard post there. When Sergeant Darwish was firing the Qazifa Sarokh, his body was exposed, it was a very bad spot.
The Qazifa Sarokh bullet was four times the size of an RPG, it was placed on a tripod and used for fighting. Sergeant Darwish fired two bullets with the Qazifa Sarokh. The enemy had a response, they also fired. Two bullets hit the tripod of (Sergeant Darwish) and he was wounded. He asked to tie up the tripod so his relatives and men would not know he was wounded.
The next day, between (Ibrahim Khalil and Bani Nergzi) in (Gali Hetiani), we set an ambush for two (military Zils) that were going to follow up on the guard post that we had previously destroyed in (Qaraula). When they reached our ambush, we fired at them. One of the Zils had a flat tire, and the other one escaped. The Zil that had the flat tire had (17) policemen in it. We fired at them, the road was dirt, all the policemen came out and fought. It was about an hour and a half of fighting. All (17) policemen were killed and we brought their weapons and returned. All the policemen were fighting with English weapons. In that battle, a young man from Suri who was a Peshmerga, we were not aware that he had been martyred.
When we returned from the ambush, one of us was with us named (Iso Amar), he called us from afar and said, 'Go, they took the body of one of our Peshmerga.' That guard post that was in (Qaraula) was close to them, they came to the aid of the policemen. They were able to seize our corpse. I asked (Hussein Silki) to protect us on the hill so we could go and bring back our corpse. We went, we got close, we fired at those who were dragging the body of our Peshmerga. They fled and left the body behind. We also tried to reach it. Later, a tank reached near the body, then an ambulance came and they took the body and we returned.
Bani Nergzi battle
In the winter of 1966, we were in Zakho. A regiment of the Iraq army was behind (Peshia Bira), the place they called (Derabin). It was a field called (Bani Nergzi), affiliated with Zakho district, located on the border between (Turkey, Iraq, and Syria). With (200) Peshmerga, we attacked the regiment so the airplane could not bomb us, because the place was a plain, if the airplane had come, it would have exhausted us greatly. (74) people were inside the regiment base, we fought for only (three) quarters of an hour and we captured the guard post. (3-4) people escaped, we captured (17) people, (7) of them had (English) weapons, and the others were killed. (19) army corpses were just on our path, and the first people who entered the base were (me, Ali Salih, Izzat Ahmad, and Ahmad Izzat Argoshi).
For the first time, we used a (120) mortar in the Badinan region in that battle. We were also fighting with (Brno and English rifles), and they were fighting with (English rifles, parachutes, machine guns, and an (81) mortar). Their gunner was very smart, he had fired (70) shells towards us.
(2) Peshmerga were wounded, one of them was from the village of (Bezehe) named (Ali), they called him (Ali Qalama), he had come to the battle with a (pickaxe) because he was unarmed, he wanted to get a weapon. There was someone named (Amo) who was Sindi, he was a very capable man, the bullet that hit (Ali), he later told us about it and said: 'Whoever I killed, (Ali) would go and take his rifle.' He had collected (3) weapons, he gave (2) of those weapons back to (Isa Siwar) and kept one for himself. Another (Sindi) was wounded in that battle, having been hit by a bullet in the neck.
Battle of Dornekhe
By the order of (Isa Siwar) in Ramadan 1966, we wanted to capture the (Dornekhe) fortress, which was an old fortress built of stone, overlooking the river that flows down between the lands of Turkey and Iraq and later enters the Khabur River on the border of Turkey and near Ibrahim Khalil. We were (100) Peshmerga, our largest weapon was a (rocket launcher) and it was used by (Arif Darwish). Arif drew up the plan to capture the Dornekhe fortress and said: '(5) Barzanis are with us, I will take all five Barzanis with me and go to the door of the barracks (fortress) and hit their door with the rocket launcher, the door will open, the soldiers are asleep, it is (1) o'clock at night, we will go inside directly and you place (50) people for the Jash outpost located above the village, to block their way and keep them busy, and the rest of us will go with us to carry out the attack and take control of the fortress.' But our comrades did not agree and decided not to fight and to withdraw.
Later, Arif Darwish said: 'Let's go and scare the fortress a little.' We (5) people went with Arif Darwish and hit the fortress with a rocket launcher and only 2 people were killed, Jash came, later the Peshmerga fought with the Jash, so they would not reach us, that was it, we retreated and fortunately the Peshmerga did not suffer any losses.
We came back on foot to the headquarters of (Said Abdulwahab Argoshi), whose base was among the (Sindi), it was about (3-4) hours away from Dornekhe, as much as they tried to make me break my fast, I did not eat and remained fasting.
Battle of Balorke
Although we were with Isa Siwar and fighting on the Zakho front, in the spring of (1967) we participated in the battle of (Balorke) which is located on the border of Amedi. (Asad Khoshawi) sent word and said: 'Come to Metina, some government outposts are there and are controlling Amedi, so we can control them.'
We attacked the mountain that overlooks Amedi, the mountain was very rugged, we went for it by hand (hand-to-hand), we were (40 to 50) Peshmerga, and in front of the enemy, Dushka and artillery were firing at their outposts so they could not raise their heads. We captured (8) people, one of them was an officer, and the other (8) threw themselves down the mountain. In that battle, one (Bargare) who was from the village of (Bengali) next to Amedi was martyred, along with one Berwari, and (Ahmad Aziz Argoshi) was also wounded. The battle of Bareker continued for (25) days, and in the same area there was another place called (Qadshe) where there was a Jash outpost, but we could not capture it.
The season in which that battle was fought was spring, at the time we were there, (the rotation) was happening, our weapons consisted of (120mm mortar, rocket launcher, Dushka), the clothes were khaki and came to us from the revolution and were rotated by them as well, we were well-off in terms of clothing, but for food our situation was bad, in that trip we did not return for (200) days.
Battle of Mount Bekher
Isa was strict with the people, at that time there were those who gave information about us to the government, wherever we went, the plane would hit us, we were on that mountain that was opposite Semel, it was called (Mount Bekher), there was fighting every day, there was no day that the plane did not hit our headquarters twice.
In 1968, the government of Iraq, with the help of (21) thousand Jash, attacked our outposts on Mount Bekher and took the mountain from us, the Peshmerga suffered heavy losses, one (Goyi) who was with (Haji Azdin, brother of Ahmad Yazdin Herki) was wounded, Haji Yazdin told me the story of himself and the wounded Peshmerga in this way: 'In several places I had put the wounded man on my back and moved him, the wounded man told me several times: 'Put me down, I have already gone, save yourself,' I put him down several times and fought, later in a place he said to me: 'Give me water,' I gave him water and he passed away.'
Isa Siwar asked us to bring back the body of the Goyi man, but the father of the martyr named (Mullah Muhammad) did not allow it, he told Isa several times: 'How many times have I told you, do not put my people in front of the world, we are going to be talked about.' Isa did not answer, he said: 'Go and bring back the body,' but the martyr's father did not allow it and said: 'Isa does not know, I know, they are all my sons,' he said: 'My son has already gone, why should you go too.'
In that battle, (Tal and Numan), who were both force commanders, and another named (Muhammad Khwarzay Numan, who was Sindi) were martyred, and there were more wounded.
The entire Zakho border has (500) Peshmerga, Mount Bekher has at most 100 Peshmerga, summer is ending and it is the beginning of autumn, I am on guard, I look through binoculars, I counted until evening (700) military Zils came and with the help of (21) thousand Jash, the Iraqi government set up a military base opposite Mount Bekher and prepared all its weapons to attack Mount Bekher and take it back from the Peshmerga. The government was fighting with Kurdish and Arab tribes, each tribe tried its luck once to capture our most strategic outposts. Once an Arab came with (60) people, the division commander named (Zaim Khalil) said to him: 'Since the Kurds could not capture it, you cannot capture it.' He said: 'No, Kurds do not fight each other.' That was it, the Arab Sheikh came, the Peshmerga saw that the Arabs were silent, until he reached their outposts, only (4) people with the Arab escaped, the rest were all killed.
The era was the era of (Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr), weapons (rifles and RPGs) were abundant on the part of the government, and in front of us (tanks) were placed, not stopping for one second of shelling, and aircraft were constantly bombing. The battle was approaching one month. In the end, the (Jash) attacked our outposts on Mount Bekher and succeeded. When the Jash were able to overcome the Peshmerga, other tribes were unhappy with it, and they made excuses that the Argoshis, due to their kinship ties with the Mizuris, who are maternal uncles and nephews, had left the place to them without a fight, (even though they won the battle with their own capabilities). The government, because of those rumors that were made about the Mizuris, disarmed the Mizuris, and later their weapons were returned to them. Until the negotiations began, Mount Bekher remained in the hands of the Jash and the Iraqi government, and later they came down from the mountain.
Our weapons were light, we had (2) mortar shells, one of them was at the headquarters of (Isa) and one of them was at the headquarters of (Ali Khalil), and that was also having to account for the scarcity of shells, otherwise the mortar shell was very powerful and went further than the (RPG). Regarding the government's losses, we did not have information, but it was countless.
Although we did not have a front, our defense and fighting to protect and retake Mount Bekher was to protect our headquarters with it.
We tried several times to retake Mount Bekher, we failed, then Isa Suwar contacted the Jash, so that he could convince them with money to go down from the mountain and hand it over to the Peshmerga. The representative of the Jash said I will talk to the government commanders, then he convinced the commanders with gifts, weapons, and money.
The whole mountain is under the authority of the government and the Jash, and a large military camp is placed at the foot of the mountain. (9) days are left for the end of the winter chill, the mountain is cold, we went as if we were going for a walk, without jackets and preparations for winter nights. We besieged the camp and some Argoshis went with (Ramazan Isa), Isa Suwar's deputy, and another part went with (Isa Suwar). They went to one side and we went to another side. Isa said: "Until you hear the sound of our mortar shell, do not shoot at the military camp." We went towards the enemy and reached a place that overlooked the military camp.
The world is very cold, we are without cloaks and jackets, it is raining constantly. (Salimok), the brother of (Haji Haidar Argoshi), was an elderly man who was with us. In the cold, he had placed a stone behind his back so that the cold would not kill him. He was moving back and forth with the stone. That night we saw such cold that on the way back our feet were barely following us.
We stayed until late, someone named (Saeed Balqosi) was with us, we sent him to the Jash who were in (Garke Akhe) and were close to us, so that we could warm ourselves. They sent us word that we do not want to see the Barzanis. One of the Jash named (Yasin Qadir), who was (Shiwi), says: "Without my own death, I will not leave that outpost." His friends were telling him: "(Abdulaziz Muhammad Amin Mizuri - the head of the Mizuri Jash) has a relationship with them and what right do we have?" After much effort, they agreed to give us the hill, but the place where (Isa Suwar) had gone, the Jash had changed their minds and did not leave their place. Finally, we were still waiting for Isa, there was no news, until it became morning and we stayed like this. Then we decided to retreat and after a while, the sound of a mortar shell was heard. It turned out that (Isa) was angry and they fired the mortar shell and killed several people, but we could not return. Finally, we were not successful in retaking the mountain.
The Battle of Life
The summer season is nearing its end and we are about to reach autumn. We moved our headquarters to the (Life area) and the village of (Bezhe) on the border of Zakho district. Our weapons are light and we only have a small number of (Dushkas and RPGs). We have a cannon, but for fear of aircraft, we cannot use it. What we have and can use are only (2) mortar shells.
After the Iraqi government captured Mount Bekher and the road was opened for it, it headed towards our headquarters. Our headquarters was in the area of the (Sindi) tribe. 12 days of continuous fighting, about (100) thousand Iraqi soldiers and Jash came at us road by road. They wanted to capture the headquarters of (Isa Suwar). Those villages were all displaced and their homes and property were destroyed, their children were lost. Several villages were seized, including (Betase, Dola, and Bezhe). (9) Peshmerga were martyred, and (83) people from the enemy were killed.
Each of (Ali Ali and Arif Darwish were force commanders, Musa Sindi was deputy force commander), they were several groups among the Peshmerga and were defending and fighting hard to make the revolution succeed.
The Battle of Mangishke
Autumn 1968, Isa sent word to (Ali Khalil) to come to his aid to help him in capturing the Mangishke district. With a day and a night and by using various weapons, especially the (120) cannon, which was a good help for the success, it was possible to liberate (Mangishke) belonging to Duhok province, and only (three) outposts that overlooked Mangishke remained, otherwise the entire city was controlled. But due to the mistake of the Peshmerga, the city was abandoned and there was a retreat, because the Peshmerga set fire to trees and bushes, which caused the city to light up and the Peshmerga to appear from all sides. As a result of that appearance of the Peshmerga, the Jash took the opportunity and martyred (11) Peshmerga. That became a defeat for the Peshmerga.
That Jash outpost that martyred the Peshmerga and became the cause of the retreat in Mangishke, after the battle, Saddam executed that Jash leader by firing squad, because when the Jash leader gets angry and contacts the revolution, he then returned to the government and Saddam executed him by firing squad in Mangishke.
In the battle of Mangishke, the number of Peshmerga was large, they were in the group of (Ali Khalil, Salim, and Isa Suwar), and we Argoshis were about (10) people. Those who were defending in Mangishke were only Jash.
In 1974, for (3) months we had besieged Zakho. The Iraqi aircraft would come along the border in fear of our DShK bullets, just to deliver something to Zakho, otherwise nothing would reach Zakho. Zakho was under the control of the government and there was a large military base there. The Iraqi government, through the use of deception, began an attack. First, it went towards the Syrian border so that we would block the road there and leave the Gali Zakho road open, but we were quickly warned of the government's deception and plan by (Isa Siwar). The battle lasted for several days. We were in a village called (Qadiya and Kule), which is located behind Zakho, meaning the western side of the city of Zakho.
The government, with (400) tanks, continuous aerial bombardment, and the participation of more than (30) thousand Jash to support the soldiers, and the number of Peshmerga was not small, amounting to nearly (500) people supported by various weapons such as (DShK, machine guns, RPGs, mortar shells, and various cannons). Our DShK guns, in particular, fought well and did not let the government's aircraft fly low.
They attacked us with an attack that had no equal in magnitude and danger. At a distance of 10 meters, one could not see one's own eyes due to the smoke of the gunpowder. The Peshmerga were in the mountains surrounding Zakho and Gali Zakho. The attack began. Some of us were in the plains. In the evening, through binoculars, we looked at our surroundings. The road that goes through the mountain to Zakho was seized by the Jash. The enemy's fire was ignited in our positions. In the morning, they resumed the attack. We were in the plains. After a while, a group came and called out to us from above, asking who we were. We identified ourselves. They told us, 'Hurry back, you are trapped. Get up, the front line is gone and only you are left in the plains, hurry up and get up.' We got up and left our positions. We went mountain by mountain, facing the Jash. Finally, we reached a mountain pass together, stood opposite each other, and fought a great battle. I fired more than (105) bullets until we pushed the enemy away from us, and then our group, which numbered more than (20) people, succeeded.
Some Peshmerga passed by us; we did not know them. We told them, 'It is a shame, do not leave,' because whoever went up would be hit. Later, we went in pairs and managed to escape the valley. That battle lasted only (4) days. After we sent the whole group, only (I and Majo - Majid Muhammad) remained, and we tried to move step by step, one of us retreating while the other fought, until we also saved ourselves from the front line. When we left the place, the Jash took our positions, but we killed (3) Jash.
Those who were killed in that battle were only Jash. A large number of Peshmerga were also wounded. On the last day of the battle, we had (40) wounded. (Rashid Muhammad Sharif) was wounded, and we told (Muhammad Adil), 'Take Rashid before the road is blocked.' Let (Nadir Jangir and Haji Salih) also go with you. It was good that they escaped before the attack.
After we escaped, they saw us from Zakho and fired cannons at us. It was a flat place. A shell landed near our friend named (Muhammad Salimok). We thought that was it, Muhammad was gone, but fortunately, nothing happened to him. Because of that shell, a rock fell and hit one of the Peshmerga who was from Sindur; it tore his clothes along with his flesh. Night fell upon us, and the road was blocked for us.
The Iraqi army had taken Gali Zakho by day and retreated by night. They were afraid that Peshmerga might still be there and attack them. Then some families reached us. Later, to monitor a road, I and a Peshmerga went to see if the road was blocked or open. We went to a hill overlooking the village of (Hassan Awa), which is a place that marks the end of Gali Spi and leads to Zakho. It was a moonlit night. We monitored the road with binoculars. A silent world. After a little monitoring, my friend warned me that a row of men was passing near us. My friend thought they were Jash. After warning them, we realized they were Peshmerga. Later, we asked those Peshmerga for help and called our own friends to get up so that no one would be left on our path and we could leave. Finally, we crossed the valley and reached the headquarters of Isa Siwar, which was in (Al-Mushteh) near Duhok. We sat in the plain and rested. Then the Peshmerga appeared. Nearly a thousand Peshmerga gathered in that plain.
In the morning, we reached the place that was safe. It was requested that someone go to Isa Siwar and inform him of our arrival because they thought we had been captured. No one dared to go to Isa because we had been defeated in the battle. Later, I went myself. When I got close to their headquarters, they saw me immediately and came to welcome me. They were afraid that we had been captured; they did not know we were still alive. Then we went after our group, and they also arrived.
The Battle of Gali Duhok
I was angry with Isa, so I decided to go to Asad. I stayed with Asad happily until later, with Salim Asad, we went to Gali Duhok, and there was a battle there, and we stayed there for a month.
In 1974, in the Battle of Gali Duhok, the Iraqi government attacked to open the Gali Duhok road and expel the Peshmerga from that mountain so that our cannons would not reach Duhok, because the center of Duhok city was under their control.
I, Salim, Lieutenant Babakir, and another person went towards Gali Duhok. We reached a place called (Sindure). It was autumn, and there was a peach orchard there. A large number had fallen under the tree. If you had looked at it, you would have thought not a single peach had fallen.
We had (9) mortars on that front, the mortars were (120, 81). Salim ordered to turn all the mortars towards Gali Duhok and said: 'They will not succeed only on the road, they cannot succeed in the mountains.' After they had fired two plane shells at Sndore which did not explode, he said: 'Use those two shells as TNT and block any side of the road with them.' He ordered the road to be blown up. When we returned to the headquarters, (Ali Khalil) asked what we had done. Salim told him the plan and then talked about destroying the road. Ali got angry and said: 'Well, the government did not attack, how can you blow up the road? Is people's life not on that road?' Meaning, the plan to blow up the road was rejected.
The government started the attack, it attacked with all kinds of ammunition and weapons. They used (Aflaq Jawwi) mortars that would explode in the sky before reaching the ground. The Peshmerga used (stone slabs) to protect themselves from the mortars. The government was defeated; they did not let the mountain fall into the hands of the government. At that time, the number of Peshmerga was very large, about (1000) thousand Peshmerga were fighting in Gali Duhok. The mortar had a good role in the battle, and the Peshmerga, despite the defeat of Gali Zakho, fought well. The battle lasted about (10) days, and a small number of Peshmerga were wounded.
The primary commander of the Duhok axis was (Ali Khalil Silki) and he did not allow the government to succeed. The defense line was still there. If there was a battle, all the commanders were there. The battle of Gali Duhok continued until near the winter season, and the government was always being defeated and launching its attacks again. The attack they wanted to retake the Gali Duhok mountain lasted more than a week, but they were not successful in it because they were not allowed to attack from the road, and if they did not have the road, they would not succeed in the mountains.
In that battle, the large number of Peshmerga and the presence of weapons such as (Doshka, RPG, and plenty of ammunition) and the continuous fighting of the Peshmerga had an effect on the defeat of the enemy. The government itself was waiting for its Jash to retake the mountain for them, but the Jash were also defeated, and since the Jash could not take the mountain, the government did not advance.
I and Lazgin Hassan Argoshi stayed on that mountain with Salim Asaad for one month. After that month, we were rotated; we were replacements. Later we returned home, and it became spring, and the revolution suffered a collapse.
Argosh after the collapse of the revolution:
When the collapse happened, three years later, that is in 1978, our villages were destroyed and ruined. At first, they used TNT on a few houses, then they used TNT and blew up all the houses in the village of Argosh. I was watching; the last place was the mosque they used TNT on. Those who were in the village were gathered and taken to the Harir complex, and the rest of us were a group that became refugees in Turkey and stayed in Basia. After staying in Basia for a year, I got sick, that is in 1979, and I was taken to Iran. I was in Karaj during the fortieth day of mourning for Barzani, and my family and children were refugees in Turkey. My brother (Nayif) was in (Kerman), and they took me there. My illness was very severe; they operated on me (3) times, but it was not successful. I stayed in the hospital for (120) days. At first, I had intestinal obstruction, and then it brought many other health problems with it.
Later, the Kurds in remote parts of Iran were being relocated to the regions of Kurdistan, and (Nayif) also told me: 'Do not show yourself, I will stay with you until your illness gets better, let the family and children go back to Kurdistan.' But finally, I asked the doctor to let me leave the hospital, there is no problem, let me die.
They had admitted me to the hospital under the name of (Nayif), otherwise they would not allow anyone to come from Iraq and be served. If it were not for Nayif's insurance, so much money was spent on me, it would not have been given to all refugees because the hospital was private.
I was in the hospital for eight months, and my family and children were still in Turkey. At the beginning of winter, my brother (Nayif) went with some friends and brought my family and children to Iran, and I could not return to (Basia).
After our return to Kurdistan and our settlement in (Zewe complex), we started Peshmerga activities again. The first place that started carrying weapons were the Kurdish refugees of (Zewe). At that time, I and (Hashim) were still sick, but they gave us weapons. We would go to duty from time to time. Idris and Masoud knew us; if we did not go to duty, they would say: 'Do not bother them,' meaning (me and Hashim Tahir).
The Democratic Party's provocation of war
In the war between the Democratic Party and the KDP, my operation had not yet healed, but I participated. (Saeed Khalil) came, called us, and said let's go to war. At that time, we started fighting in the areas near the Zewe complex. Our stars were the domes of (Gurze) chickpeas. In the villages of (Mansur Abad, Mirawa, and Qahira), we started. The first time in (Qahira - 1980) the war broke out, which was located next to the Zewe camp. Each group attacked from one side. In that battle, (7) of our people were martyred. Three of them were Mizuri by the names of (Saeed Somayi, Sharaf Gozi, Jum'a Kurani). (Ahmed Reza - Khulami Muhammad Khalid) was also martyred. (30) people from the Democratic Party were killed, and many others were captured. More than (400-500) Peshmerga participated in the battle. The number of the Democratic Party was countless. They were saying: 'We are 6 million, how can you fight us?!'
We walked on the right side of (Girdawan), before us some Herki had attacked (Jawko and his group), there was a pool of water on our path, (3) bodies of the Democrats had fallen into it, we passed that place and walked in groups and different paths through the poplars, (I and Darwesh Omar) were together, but later Darwesh left me and I continued my walk, I saw blood on the path, I followed the blood until I reached a house in the village of (Girdawan), the woman of the house when she saw me walking towards them, she came out and cursed to make me confused (distracted), (Darwesh) also called me and said: "What is that?", I said it is a woman, he said come, do not talk to the woman, later I decided not to go inside and not to finish off the wounded person and I returned to Darwesh, I went and did not tell (Darwesh).
(Darwesh Omar) was our leader in the battle, we only had (one) wounded, I was fighting with a Simonov rifle, Darwesh with a Brno, when I shot with the Simonov, it did not have enough power to make the enemy move from their position, so I asked Darwesh to give me his Brno, then with his Brno I fired (2) packets of bullets, the enemy got up from their positions and fled, and we followed them.
We got up from our place and went to a village they called (Kani Sork), the people of the village had hidden themselves, they had been frightened that the Barzanis would kill everyone and cause harm, (Said Khalil) came and said it is forbidden to even pick a cucumber from a house, no harm must be caused to anyone, we stayed in the village for a while, the people watched us and our behavior, one by one they came to us and we had surrounded the village of (Kani Sork), we previously had no problem with the Democratic Party, their headquarters were right there, they had shelled the Zewe camp several times.
Night fell, (Said Khalil) called for me, and I went to him and he said: (Said Somayi) has been martyred, so he told me, because (Said Somayi) was our brother-in-law and his 2 brothers were with us and they did not know, he said: "Take his brothers with you, but you must go by day, you must not return by night", in the morning we left, until we reached (Zewe) they had already buried the (7) martyred Peshmerga, in the cemetery of (Mellabasek_Zewe).
It was late autumn, the area was slightly covered with snow, we went towards (Nalose) which belongs to Oshnavieh, some of our Peshmerga who numbered (3-4) people were captured, one of whom was (Ezzat Khan), he had put his weapon in the snow so they would not find it, but our forces attacked and those who had been captured were released, and Ezzat Khan also found his weapon.
Battles of the liberated areas years 1987
In 1987 I was with (Salim) we came to the liberated areas, our headquarters was in (Kani Jifrke) in the village of (Selke), for (3) months we were in that place, after the end of the Democratic war, our people were still in the villages, in one of the battles we went to Sherwan and surrounded the area and hit the Sherwan barracks with (artillery, RPG, and DShK), we had one with us named (Ali Topchi - martyred in the Xwakurk battle) there was a DShK on the Sherwan barracks, he fired a shell and hit the middle of the DShK, all parts of Sherwan were captured, there were about (100) Jash guard posts there besides the Iraqi army.
We were about (50) people when we launched that attack, we used pack animals (mules) to transport the weapons we had with us, we had placed the artillery in (Tatki), because it is a hidden and deep place, we came down from that mountain which is opposite Sherwan to the bends and placed the DShK there and with a 57 which is a powerful rocket (7) shells were with it (Ahmed Abdullah Argoshi) was the loader, we prepared the machine gun and equipment, our gunner started firing the artillery, there was a DShK on the roof of the barracks, it was hit by a shell, six people were on the DShK, all six were killed, the Jash who were there also fought, (Shamdin Ginder) was our DShK loader, a car came down, at first I told Shamdin: shoot at it, later I told him myself, do not shoot at it.
In the battle the Iraqi government gunner fled and left his artillery, because (Ahmed) had fired the 57 rocket at him, he was scared and ran into the barracks, our only goal was to cause damage to the Iraqi government, not to stay and retake the place, after we finished the weapon in that battle, we retreated, the Peshmerga had no losses in that battle, the battle lasted about three to four hours.
For one month I was on the Zarara river, (Haji Ali Argoshi) helped us a lot, he sent us grenades and RPG shells many times, he secretly brought us supplies, once he brought us (800) kilos of rice.
Xwakurk battle:After the Iraqi government tried to regain control of the borders, the Peshmerga confronted them in Xwakurk, meaning after the end of the Iraq-Iran war and in 1988, foreigners were monitoring the battle in the border areas.
About (900) Peshmerga were fighting in Xwakurk, the place was narrow, the Iraqi soldiers were attacking continuously, our artillery was hitting them and then it was just enemy bodies falling on top of each other, those who were captured were asking where is (Qabri Zahir), because Saddam had said you must go as far as Qabri Zahir, many soldiers were captured in that battle, when the battle ended, some of the prisoner soldiers were released and sent back. One night they attacked and (150) soldiers were captured.
That battle took place in the autumn season, the battle was with (Kalashnikov, DShK, artillery, RPG), the Iraqi government could not take off planes, because it had stopped the war with Iran and the area was a border, when the planes took off, they could not lower themselves for fear of our DShKs and we had a lot of anti-aircraft, it was difficult for their planes to bomb from that height and they could not hit their targets, they were not as advanced as today's planes, half of those shells fell in the areas of Turkey.
The night they captured 150 Iraqi soldiers, we were near Jadanê; that attack took place near the Kurawa mountain behind (Jorja) against the Peshmerga. As far as I am aware, they had not killed a single Kurd, because he had not fought, and their evidence was (the presence of six magazines on his back, as he had not fired a single bullet).
In that battle, (40) Peshmerga were martyred. Of course, we had many wounded, but I did not know the number, because it was a battle where a thousand shells hit the ground in a minute. We had a point in the middle of the front called point (4); every group was at that point for (3) nights, and no one could stay there for more than three nights, because many shells were fired at that point and it was under constant attack.
Uprising:
In the 1991 uprising, we also returned to Kurdistan with the Peshmerga. We were with (Ali Khalil). At that time, (Salim) came down to Kurdistan and we came with him. It was not planned for me to stay, because I had my son (Sakwan) with me. I told (Salim) that I would not stay, that I had work to do, and that (Sakwan) should be with him. He did not allow it, and he stayed with him for a month at the Spilik fortress.
I was in Zewe for (20) years. I returned to Kurdistan in the twentieth year, that is, in 1999. After the events of exhuming Barzani's grave, I was in Helaj; we were guarding Barzani's grave until they brought back Barzani's body. I was a guard there, and later in 1999, we returned to Kurdistan.
Source:1- Archive of the Encyclopedia Board of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.