The Baathists seized power in Iraq through a military coup from 17 to 30 July 1968. As a permanent tradition to reorganize themselves, consolidate their position, and establish the roots of their power in Iraq, they began negotiations and made baseless promises regarding resolving the Kurd issue. However, it did not take long before they once again, like all other regimes, evaded implementing the demands of the revolution and resolving the Kurd issue, and resumed their attacks on the Peshmerga positions at the end of the year 1968.
From August 1968 to November 1968, the Iraqi Army resumed a series of attacks on various areas of Kurdistan. One of those areas was (Akre – Sheikhan), which was subjected to the aggression and attacks of the Baathist army and mercenaries (Jash) once again, which resulted in many crimes and victims, such as the Dekan Cave massacre.
Dekan was an attractive village near the Khazir River at the foothills of Mount Khere in the Sheikhan area. The population of the village was about 20 to 30 families who were engaged in agricultural work. The village was also famous for its vineyards, orchards, olives, and fruits.
After a year had passed since the Baathist rule, specifically in the middle of August 1969, the Iraqi Army launched a large, widespread military attack with the support of hundreds of mercenaries (Jash) from the Herki tribe and various types of light and heavy weapons to suppress the Kurds and thwart the September Revolution in the (Akre - Sheikhan) area in the Shamkan region, such as the villages of Blan, Tila, Mersida, Sarkaf, Khurt, Dekan, Nerwek, Basfren, and Bire at the foothills of Mount Khere, under the supervision of Minister of Interior Salih Mahdi Ammash and under the command of Abdul-Jabbar al-Asadi, the commander of the Fourth Division. From the sky, they bombarded the area with artillery and planes, burning everything, both wet and dry. The (Akre – Sheikhan) Peshmerga force, under the command of Teymur Abdal Sheikhi, defended with the light weapons they had at their disposal.
The war began with artillery shelling and warplane bombardment in Mriba, Sharne, and Bakurman, then launched a ground attack on the area. The people of the village of Dekan, like the residents of all other villages, took refuge in a cave near their village called Dekan Cave to protect themselves and hide from the artillery and plane bombardment. To deceive the Iraqi Army and prevent them from finding them, they had collected a lot of sticks and wood in front of the cave. However, another indication states that about a hundred meters in front of the cave, some huts had been built with wood and branches by some of the villagers, and they had placed some belongings there as a temporary home.
It is clear that the attack by the army and government mercenaries was advancing until they reached the aforementioned village on 18 August 1969. They immediately began looting the property and belongings of the villagers and then set fire to the houses and homes of the village. Then they began searching and looking for the villagers until they found the cave where 66 citizens, including women, children, the elderly, and the disabled, had hidden themselves. The men had gone towards the mountains. The Iraqi Army and the mercenaries did not hesitate to shower the cave with gunfire and set fire to the sticks and wood that had been collected in front of the cave and the huts that had been built there. Then the sound of gunfire and the moans, cries, and screams of women and children mixed together until they were all killed, suffocated, and burned inside the smoke, flames of fire, and the bullets of the Iraqi military and mercenaries (Jash). The first person to be martyred in front of the cave was an elderly, disabled man who had been shot. Some of the women had wanted to jump through the flames of the fire and reach a water stream that was near the cave, but they had been burned and scorched to such an extent that they could not reach the water and became Martyrs. Not even one of them escaped alive; rather, all of them became Martyrs, including 37 children, 29 women, and an old man.
After a few days, a group of Peshmerga who heard the news of this tragedy headed to the cave to help them, but they saw that it was too late and they had all become Martyrs. Then, with the help of the surrounding people, they prepared a cemetery for them near the cave and buried them right there. After a few days passed, a group of Peshmerga attacked the villages of the Herki tribe, looting and burning them in retaliation for the Dekan Cave incident.
Sources:
1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, September Revolution 1961-1975, First Edition 2004.
2- Hozhin Masoud Sarni, The September Revolution in the Behdinan Region 1061- 1975, First Edition, 2018.
3- Shawkat Mullah Ismail Hassan, Days in the History of the September Revolution, First Edition, Erbil, 2007.
4- Ari Karim, Some Living Pages in the September Revolution, Khabat Printing House, Duhok 1999.
5- Haji Mirxan Dolamari, In Search of Justice, Volume One, Second Edition, Isra Printing House, Tehran, 2021.