Shaxolan is a village located 25 km north of Erbil in the middle of the Beraneti plain. Most of the village's inhabitants are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. From the very beginning of the Aylul Revolution the people of the village were an important supporter and backer of the revolution. In all good and bad times, they served the Peshmerga, and the village became a shelter and a place for the Peshmerga to stay and hide. They also did not hesitate to express their respect, affection, and love for the Peshmerga.
The village of Shaxolan possesses a story of Peshmerga heroism that occurred during the Aylul Revolution at the hands of two Peshmerga named Khalil and Sayed Fathi, who recorded pages of history against hundreds of army forces and mercenaries (Jash).
The event of this story dates back to the end of February 1969, when the two aforementioned Peshmerga were guests in that village for the mission of the revolution and Peshmerga duty. At that time, a large force of the army and Jash were passing through the road of Shaxolan village towards Ifraz during a military maneuver near Bastora. Apparently, at that time, a 5 to 6-year-old girl who saw the force ran in a hurry towards the house to inform the Peshmerga about that government force. At this moment, they thought about changing their location from the house where they were guests to another house so as not to be exposed, but in the meantime, the armed men saw them and fired at them.
Then the battle and clashes began. The government force surrounded the village, but they did not dare to get close to the location and positions of the two Peshmerga. One of the Jash went to the village mosque and saw about twenty young men gathered in the students' room, busy reading books. The Jash spoke very arrogantly and inappropriately to the mosque's Mullah and the students, saying they were busy meeting. Then he asked them why those two Peshmerga were there and why they allowed people like that to come to their village? Then he angrily left the mosque and set off towards the location of the Peshmerga to fight them, but with the first shot, the Jash was killed.
The battle gradually became hotter. The soldiers and Jash surrounded the village and the house where the Peshmerga had taken positions. The Peshmerga also vowed not to surrender but to fight until their last breath. The government force, with all its military capability, weapons, and ammunition, could not overcome the two Peshmerga and get close to them, but they thought about burning the house where the Peshmerga were. In their anger, they turned on the people of the village, arrested a large number of young men, tied their hands, and kept them detained outside the village until morning in the winter cold, with a tank and several soldiers and Jash guarding them.
The government force stood around the village with tanks and artillery from that night until morning. They sent them messages several times to surrender, but the Peshmerga did not accept the demands of the soldiers and Jash, but reaffirmed their decision to fight to the death for each other. The next day, a large military force with tanks, artillery, armored vehicles, and aircraft arrived at the village from Erbil to support the first force, and the attack on the two Peshmerga continued. A number of the village's houses were burned and destroyed due to the bombardment, shelling, and government attack. The Peshmerga continued to defend until near noon when Sayed Fathi was martyred. Then Khalil came out with the smoke and dust of the tanks and the collapse of the house's walls and roof, faced the tank, and he was also martyred.
Thus, after two days of fighting and clashes by a large army and Jash with full combat capability in tanks, artillery, armored vehicles, and aircraft against two Peshmerga, the battle ended with the martyrdom of both Peshmerga. However, great damage was caused to several houses in the village, and they fired DShK at the shepherds and the village's livestock. A civilian woman was wounded, and the government force's losses consisted of 12 killed and a number of wounded who were transported by helicopter.
Because of this, the revolution strongly began to strike the mercenaries (Jash). Faris Bawa, the commander of the Erbil Plain Force, formed a force and sent it to the Qushtapa sub-district to strike the mercenaries (Jash) and carry out several Peshmerga activities, so that it would be shown to the people of Erbil that the Peshmerga Forces are strong and continue their activities. In addition, the leadership of the revolution gave the Peshmerga Forces more freedom to strike sensitive and important government locations, such as striking the Baba Gurgur oil, so that the revolution could prove its strength to the government that it has the ability to reach the depths of Iraq's regions and strike its interests.
Sources:
1- Ari Karim, Several Living Pages in the Aylul Revolution Khabat Printing House, Duhok 1999.
2- Sayed Kaka Memoirs of a Peshmerga, Ministry of Culture Printing House, First Edition, 1997.
3- Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Volume Three, Part One, Aylul Revolution 1961-1975, First Edition 2004.
4- Khurshid Shira, Struggle and Blood, Memoirs of the Years of Peshmerga Struggle, Third Edition, Erbil, 2015.
5- Karwan Jawhar Muhammad, Idris Barzani 1944-1987 Life and Political and Military Role in the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Hevi Printing House, Erbil, 2019.