The Omar Agha Strait is located in the north of the Diana plain between the villages of Badliyan in the south and Sheikhan in the north. The main road between Soran and Sidekan passes through this strait. On April 6, 1966, the Iraqi Army launched a ground and air attack under the name (Trust in God) on Hendren, Zozik, and the Omar Agha Strait. On September 3, 1974, the Third Brigade, supported by a tank battalion, attacked the strait, but the Iraqi Army left 230 corpses of its soldiers on the battlefield along with a large number of wounded.

The Omar Agha Strait is located in the north of the Diana plain between the villages of Badliyan in the south and Sheikhan in the north, and it is situated at an altitude of 1200 meters above sea level. 

The Ba'athist regime seized power in Iraq in a military coup on July 17-30, 1968, but it soon realized that it could not disable Aylul Revolution and overcome it militarily. Therefore, it opened the door to negotiations with the revolution and signed the March 11 Agreement, the 1970 agreement regarding the right of autonomy for South Kurdistan. However, during four years of ceasefire and negotiations, it reorganized and armed its army and military units, and began to fabricate excuses and refuse to implement the agreement, as it resumed its military attack on Kurdistan on March 16, 1974.  

Although the battles of the Omar Agha Strait and the military campaign to seize this strategic location had a previous history, dating back to April 6, 1966, when the Iraqi Army launched a ground and air attack under the name (Trust in God) that it began on Mount Hendren, Zozik, and the Omar Agha Strait, and during the days that the Iraqi Army continued its occupation campaign, it was unable to overcome the Peshmerga forces, but all their attacks were thwarted by the Peshmerga forces with the support of Artillery of the Revolution, five Peshmerga individuals were martyred in the Iraqi Army's attack on the Omar Agha Strait.

After the resumption of the war in 1974, the Iraqi Army advanced in several areas and seized them. The Peshmerga forces withdrew from Rawanduz, the foothills of Korek, Mount Gorz, and established a defensive line in Bankawal, Mount Hendren, Mount Zozik, Sertiz, and the Omar Agha Strait, in order to prevent the Iraqi Army from advancing and to stop it. However, the Iraqi Army continued to attack the Peshmerga positions, with the aim of occupying all strategic positions and weakening and ending the revolution in a short time. 

This time, the occupation of the Omar Agha Strait and breaking the defense line of the Kurdistan Peshmerga forces were placed within the attack plan, as the Third Brigade, led by Staff Colonel Hamid al-Dulaimi and supported by a tank battalion, attacked the Omar Agha Strait on September 3, 1974. At the beginning of the attack, the Iraqi Army shelled the entire area with artillery and Air Force aircraft, but the Peshmerga forces built their positions with trees very well and with successful military techniques, and they were hiding in them during the shelling, so the shelling had no effect on the Peshmerga forces. 

It can be said that the Iraqi Army's goal of occupying this strait was related to it being a strategic point for dividing the Peshmerga forces into other fronts of the battle in Zozik, Sertiz, and Sari Bardi. The Peshmerga sent more forces to thwart the Iraqi Army's plans and strengthened their positions and defenses.

At the beginning of the Iraqi Army's attack, the Peshmerga forces were able to destroy four tanks with 106 mm anti-tank guns, because Artillery of the Revolution led by Hali Dolmari played a very important role in thwarting this attack, as artillery commanders on the battlefield were informed via wireless devices to shell the Iraqi Army. Although the commander of the Third Brigade in the Iraqi Army continued the attack and insisted on occupying the Omar Agha Strait, where he managed to seize a number of positions, the shelling of the Artillery of the Revolution played a decisive role in preventing the Iraqi Army from advancing, and the Peshmerga forces launched a counterattack and fought them face-to-face until they were able to regain control of all their positions. 

The Iraqi Army did everything in its power to control the valley and destroy the Peshmerga's positions and their defensive line. After eight hours of fierce fighting, the entire Iraqi Army brigade was destroyed, as they left the corpses of 230 soldiers on the battlefield along with many wounded, and they were unable to achieve success; rather, they suffered a major defeat.

Their remnants were forced to retreat to the village of Badliyan south of the Omar Agha Strait, but they were unable to attack the Peshmerga positions again, until they seized Mount Sertiz, which is located above this strait and overlooks it. Therefore, it was difficult for the Peshmerga to remain there, and for this reason, the revolution's leadership ordered a withdrawal and evacuation of the site, and decided to establish another defensive line in the Beshe Strait, Mount Hassan Beg, and Sari Bardi to prevent the enemy army from advancing.

Sources:

1- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part Two, First Edition, (Erbil- 2004).

2- Ibrahim Jalal, South Kurdistan and the Aylul Revolution, Building and Collapse, 1961-1975. Fourth Edition, (2021).

3- Ghazi Adel Gardi, A Peshmerga in the Service of Barzani ... Haji Birokhi, Volume One, Second Edition, (2020).  

4- History of Contemporary Iraq, Dr. Ibrahim Khalil Ahmed and Dr. Jaafar Abbas Hamdi, (Mosul- 1989).  

5- Sangar Ibrahim Khoshnaw, Military Events of the Aylul Revolution 1970-1975, First Edition, (Erbil).

6- Archive of the Encyclopedia Authority of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.