During the Aylul Revolution of 1961-1975, several military coups took place in Iraq. A number of regimes with different ideologies and an Arab nationalist core appeared on the political scene. Each of them ruled Iraq for a period: the regime of Abd al-Karim Qasim, which abolished the monarchy on July 14, 1958, and established the republican system. On February 8, 1963, the Ba'ath Party overthrew him. On October 18, 1963, Abdulsalam Arif and a group of generals overthrew the Ba'athists. On July 17, 1968, the Ba'athists returned and overthrew the regime of Abd al-Rahman Arif and regained power for the second time, which was the longest authoritarian regime in the history of Iraq.
It is worth noting that when all these regimes came to power, they initially listened to the Kurds and negotiated with them to consolidate their position, but after a while, when they were strengthening their power, they began to fight the Kurds again. However, their most difficult military campaigns were in 1968, when the Ba'athists returned to power for the second time. During this period, the Kurdish house was divided. The old Political Bureau wing had taken refuge with the government for some time, and its forces were attacking the revolution's areas alongside government forces. They were able to seize several cities and towns at first.
But the revolution did not stand idly by in the face of these new developments; rather, it began to reorganize and arm its forces. A number of training courses were opened in Qasri and Haji Omaran for training on the use and repair of weapons. In 1969, a large number of weapons such as rifles, Katyushas, 106mm and 107mm cannons reached the revolution, and within 70 days, 38,000 rifles were distributed to the Peshmerga forces. The preparations of the revolution were not limited to defense only, but began with various fedayeen activities and attacks on the army and government institutions in many places.
The fighting continued from February 1969 until the end of the year, when the Iraqi Army and the old Political Bureau staff continued their military campaign against the areas controlled by the revolution. In response to the many pressures on it, the revolution command launched a series of counterattacks and campaigns in various places. One of them was the epic of Kartak and Makhubznan. When the advance of the Iraqi Army in the Pishdar area reached the heights of the village of Kartak from the back near Sengeser, they planned to advance to Nawdasht and then Dilman, where the Barzani Headquarters was located. Because the advance of government forces posed a direct threat to the Barzani Headquarters, the Barzani Special Forces were sent to the Valley of Martyrs led by Omar Agha Dulmari. On the night of October 30-31, 1969, the Peshmerga forces attacked the army and the collaborators (Jash) who were stationed around the heights of the villages of Kartak and Makhubznan. They sent another force to the foot of the mountain to surround them and cut off the road through which aid reached them.
In the first campaign, the Peshmerga forces entered the outpost after a few minutes, and they faced each other directly until cold weapons such as daggers were used. A few government troops survived, and all others were killed or wounded. Nearly 150 officers, soldiers, and collaborators (Jash) were killed in the battle, and the government forces were dealt a fatal blow. Ismail al-Nuaimi, the division commander, came to Sengeser two days earlier to see the Situation. But because of the army's defeat, he suffered a nervous breakdown, because he had never seen such a failure before. The Iraqi Army and other forces were unable to invade the Valley of Martyrs again, and even the Peshmerga did not allow them to transport the bodies of their dead to Sengeser, so they were forced to use eleven helicopters for this purpose.
The Peshmerga forces seized 60 Kalashnikov rifles, 30 rifles, an 82mm mortar shell, a 60mm mortar, two Degtyaryov-style machine guns, two wireless devices, and some military equipment. It is worth noting that only 50 Peshmerga individuals participated in this battle. They were able to destroy an entire company of commandos. After this and several other wars, the government's hopes for a military solution weakened and it resorted to dialogue and negotiations. The result was the March 11, 1970 agreement.
Sources:1- Shawkat Malla Ismail Hassan, Days in the History of Aylul Revolution, First Edition, Erbil, 2007.
2- Omar Osman, Life of a Kurd, Mukryan Printing House, Second Edition, Erbil, 2008.
3- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part Two, Aylul Revolution 1961-1975, Ministry of Education Printing House, First Edition, Erbil, 2004.
4- Hawkar Karim Hama Sharif, Aylul Revolution, Salahaddin University Printing House, First Edition, Erbil, 2012.
5- Ibrahim Jalal, Southern Kurdistan and Aylul Revolution Founding and Collapse 1961-1975, Fourth Edition, 2021.
6- Ari Karim, Several Living Pages in Aylul Revolution, Khabat Printing House, Duhok 1999.
7- Ibrahim Khalil Ahmed and Jaafar Abbas Hamidi, History of Contemporary Iraq, Mosul, 1989.