On August 8, 1962, the Peshmerga forces began moving towards the Khoshnawti area led by military commanders Mustafa Nerwayi, Tili Agha, Ali Shaban, Haji Birokhi, Mahmoud Kawani, Khurshid Shira, and Lieutenant Colonel Aziz Akriyi, under the direct supervision of Barzani, who established his headquarters in the village of Khati in the Balisan Valley. It is clear that the Balisan Valley was during this period under the control of the Peshmerga forces. On August 10, Barzani ordered the Peshmerga commanders to attack the Hiran Valley to seize the area, specifically the village of Spindara in the north of Hiran district at the foothills of Mount Hory, and all the places where the mercenaries belonging to the hireling Sabir Agha were stationed.
Barzani assigned Mahmoud Kawani to direct other forces alongside his forces, which were not familiar with the area. As he was from the area, he was aware of all the terrain of the region. At four o'clock in the morning on August 11, 1962, the Peshmerga forces launched an attack on the outposts of the village of Spindara. Within an hour of fighting, most of the mercenaries lost their defenses and surrendered to the Peshmerga forces. Only two points on the heights of the Aquban and Hiran roads remained where resistance was still ongoing, and shortly after, the outpost on the hill overlooking the Aquban road surrendered.
A force of Peshmerga, by order of Lieutenant Colonel Aziz Akriyi, set up an ambush on the Hiran-Spindara road to prevent the mercenary support forces from coming to rescue the outposts that were attacked by the Peshmerga. After a while, a group of mercenaries accompanied by Agha Kora, the cousin of Sabir Agha, set up an ambush for the Peshmerga, which led to his killing and four others.
After the Peshmerga forces exerted great pressure on the outposts that were stuck in front of the Peshmerga campaign, they raised the white flag within half an hour and surrendered to the Peshmerga forces. The entire village of Spindara fell into the hands of the Peshmerga forces, and Sabir Agha and his men were no longer able to defend themselves, so they left their positions and fled, leaving behind 18 bodies and 6 wounded. Three Peshmerga members were martyred in that battle and the seizure of the village of Spindara.
After seizing the village of Spindara, it was decided to attack the village of Aquban and the Hiran district, where a large force of mercenaries and police were stationed. Initially, a force of the Peshmerga was assigned to control the Aquban area, located between Hiran and Shaqlawa, to cut off the main road to prevent the arrival of any government aid from Shaqlawa to their forces in Hiran, as Barzani was observing the attack himself closely.
The force assigned to seize Aquban began moving and attacking the points assigned to it, but when it reached the designated area, all the Iraqi government mercenaries had fled the village. The Peshmerga forces took control of Upper and Lower Aquban and Aquban overlooking the main road between Shaqlawa-Hiran, surrounded the area, and established their headquarters in the village of Aquban.
After the Peshmerga took control of the main road between Hiran and Shaqlawa, the attack on the Hiran district began under the direct supervision of the revolution leader Barzani. The Peshmerga forces besieged the Hiran and Nazanin Qishla for several days, where the police had taken refuge and did not surrender to the Peshmerga. The revolution leadership wanted the plan to end without bloodshed as much as possible. On the other hand, the mediation efforts made by the figures and notables of the district led to the surrender of the police to the Peshmerga forces without a fight, with all their weapons, equipment, and property. At the request of these figures and notables, all police personnel, officers, and those with ranks were released by order of the revolution leadership and returned to their families and relatives, and most of them were residents of the area.
Barzani then moved his headquarters to Hiran, and other Peshmerga forces were stationed in the villages of the Khoshnawti Valley such as Aquban, Spindara, Kortian, and Barka. With the victory of the Peshmerga forces in this epic, Mount Hory up to the foothills of Mount Sefin on the road from Hiran to Shaqlawa, which is called the Hiran Valley, fell into the hands of the Peshmerga forces completely, and they took up positions against the Iraqi government.
After losing large areas in the Khoshnawti area, the Iraqi government had no choice but to shell the area intensively with artillery, mortars, and warplanes in Shaqlawa and the summit of Mount Sefin. As a result of this shelling on August 15, 1962, the Peshmerga commander Mahmoud Kawani and three other Peshmerga were martyred.
Sources:1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, Aylul Revolution 1961-1975, First Edition, 2004.
2- Haji Mirxan Dolamari, Searching for Justice, Volume One, Second Edition, 2021.
3- Khurshid Shira, Struggle and Blood, Memoirs of the Years of Peshmerga Struggle, Third Edition, (Erbil- 2015).
4- Ghazi Adel Gardi, A Peshmerga in the Service of the Barzani Path, Haji Birokhi, Volume One, Second Edition, (Turkey- 2021).
5- Shawkat Malla Ismail Hassan, Days in the History of the Aylul Revolution, First Edition, (Erbil- 2007).
6- Ari Karim, Several living pages in the Aylul Revolution, (Khabat Press- Duhok- 1999).