In 1965, the regions of the Kurdish revolution faced a series of battles and engagements by the Iraqi Army in order to silence the voice of the revolution in all those areas and to thwart their activities. However, in many of those battles and the Peshmerga's counter-offensive campaigns against several locations, significant success was witnessed. Several areas of Kurdistan fell back under the control of the revolution, such as the areas of Qaladze, Chwarta, Khoshnaweti, Mount Safin, Qaradagh, Garmian, Kalar, and Warmawa.

The Erbil Plain, or specifically the village of Bestana, was one of the areas that came under the attack of the aforementioned army. Bestana is a small village in the Erbil Plain, belonging to the Qushtapa sub-district, east of the city of Erbil, at a distance of approximately 30 km. Because it was an important area for the revolution and was close to Erbil, Perde (Altun Kupri), Qushtapa, and Taqtaq, the Iraqi Army could easily launch campaigns from those places. The Peshmerga forces could also very easily send their groups, teams, and units from there into those cities and towns, carry out partisan Activity, and return to their positions. 

It is clear that the government, in this military campaign, intended to move the Peshmerga bases and Headquarters away from these areas of the Erbil Plain so as to eliminate the threat to the Kirkuk oil wells, given that the oil wells often came under attack by the Peshmerga. On the other hand, it wanted to reduce the activity of the Peshmerga against the city of Erbil, Koya, and other places. For these reasons, in the autumn of 1965, the government carried out a large and widespread attack, which consisted of the army and mercenaries (Jash), supported by tanks, long-range artillery, and warplanes, against the Peshmerga bases and Headquarters in Bestana and the plains of Koya and Erbil, which is also referred to as the five-pronged attack.

The onslaught of the Iraqi Army and the mercenaries began from five prongs: a force from Qushtapa towards Bestana, another force from the Gomaspan gorge, another force from Taqtaq and the Shwan sub-district, a fourth force from Erbil towards Daratu and towards Bestana, and a fifth force from the village of Qashqa towards Bestana. Also, from Koya towards Degala and the village of Small Talabani. This covered a large and wide area of the Erbil Plain, where the Iraqi Army's attacks on the Peshmerga bases and Headquarters from several prongs in the Erbil Plain continued continuously for one month. 

The beginning of the attack started with heavy shelling of the Peshmerga positions; they had established artillery battalions in Erbil, the Gomaspan gorge, and Qashqa. In addition to that, from the morning until the evening, the government's air force bombed the Peshmerga Headquarters and positions, with the intention that they could take control of all those areas that were under the control of the Peshmerga in a very short time, clear their positions, and that this vast plain would return under the control of the government army force.

However, it is clear that the Peshmerga forces had received news of a widespread attack on their positions in that region before it began, so they had made all preparations for defense to confront and resist the massive force of the Iraqi Army. One of the preparations was the transfer of all those Peshmerga who were wounded or sick and unable to fight to other areas of the revolution that were not under the threat of government attack, so that they would not become a burden on the Peshmerga during the fighting, or in any undesirable situation, especially in defeat, they would not fall into the hands of the enemy.

In this battle, nearly 200 Peshmerga skilled in fighting and defense sacrificed their lives and fortified their defensive positions. They also reaffirmed their pledge of life and death to each other and to the land and the Kurdish belief, under the command of Faris Bawa, Ahmad Haji Ali, Qadir Aziz Wasu Dizayi, Sayid Kaka At the time the battle began, the Peshmerga resisted the Iraqi Army forces and the armed men in such a way that for the duration of the one-month attack, they did not allow the Iraqi Army to reach their bases, Headquarters, and positions. This became a source of shock for the Iraqi Army forces, who, with all the military and logistical capabilities, weapons, and ammunition at their disposal, could not implement what they had intended and planned for.

After a month of attacks and assaults on the Peshmerga positions, the Iraqi Army could not achieve its goal and defeat the Peshmerga. Therefore, after heavy losses, which consisted of the killing of dozens of soldiers and the destruction of several military vehicles, it was forced to withdraw its forces to the place from which they had moved and left the area.

After the end of the Iraqi Army's attack, the Peshmerga forces also suffered human losses, which consisted of the martyrdom of 6 Peshmerga and the wounding of 14 Peshmerga. Also, more than 20 villages were burned by the mercenaries (Jash), and nearly 50 citizens, including women and children, were martyred and wounded by aerial bombardment and shelling. However, this did not lead to a decline in the morale of the Peshmerga to abandon partisan Activity. This was why, in a short time, several Peshmerga units reached the city of Erbil and attacked several government military institutions to show the government on one hand that the morale of the Peshmerga had not declined and that they were continuing their partisan activities, and on the other hand, to reassure the public of the city of Erbil, so that it would be clear and evident to them that these government attacks would not have a negative impact on the strength and morale of the Peshmerga.      

Sources:

1. Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, Aylul Revolution 1961-1975, First Edition 2004.

2. Ari Karim, Several Living Pages of the Aylul Revolution, Khabat Press, Duhok 1999.

3. Khurshid Shera, Struggle and Blood, Memoirs of the Years of Peshmerga Struggle, Third Edition, Erbil, 2015.

4. Ibrahim Jalal, Southern Kurdistan and the Aylul Revolution, Foundation and Collapse, 1961-1975, Fourth Edition, 2021.

5. Sayid Kaka, Memoirs of a Peshmerga, Ministry of Culture Press, First Edition, 1997.

6. Abdullah Rahman Malazada: The Structure of the Aylul Revolution, Second Edition, Duhok.