In the summer of 1963, the Iraqi government led by Abdul Salam Arif launched a large-scale attack on various areas of Kurdistan. He made a statement on Baghdad radio, refusing to negotiate with the leadership of the Kurdish revolution, and decided to restart a bloody war against the Kurds. Later, he began attacking cities, towns, and villages, and then started arrests, deportations, and massacres in all areas that were attacked, in a way that the Ba'athists interpreted that the Abdul Karim Qasim regime had not fought the Kurds seriously before them, and instead they could defeat the Kurdish revolution in a short time. This also shows that Abdul Salam Arif never believed in the Kurdish cause in Iraq, which became apparent in his speeches where he did not recognize the Kurds and did not use the word Kurdistan.

Before the start of the war on May 20, 1963, the Chief of General Staff of the military ordered an economic blockade on Kurdistan. With the start of the war on June 10, grave crimes against moral and human values were committed in many places. It is clear that during this period, Sulaymaniyah was more oppressed by the Iraqi army than all other cities in Kurdistan, as every time soldiers and military convoys were attacked by Peshmerga from all sides, they would come and take their revenge on the civilians of Sulaymaniyah.

One of these violent and inhumane acts was the Sulaymaniyah incident, which was ordered by the commander of the 20th Brigade, Zeim Sidiq Mustafa, who is known as the most brutal brigade in the history of Iraq and whose hands were stained with the blood of thousands of the country's youth. The city of Sulaymaniyah was also a bright beacon against its enemies. In the genocide campaign, 5,000 civilians were arrested, and 86 of them were selected and buried alive. Their only crime was that the Ba'athists had brought a picture of the leader of the Kurdish revolution, Mustafa Barzani, to the arrested people and ordered them to insult him. They were not prepared to accept that in any way. Apparently, one of the prisoners had answered them and said, "If you want us to disrespect our leader, then we will listen to you." Because of this, the Ba'athists did not spare them and massacred them.

Source:

1. Archive of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia.