On This Day: Peshmerga Operation in Erbil, 19 March 1986

PUKMEDIA

The 1986 operation.

On this day in 1986, a group of Kurdistan Peshmerga forces carried out a significant operation in Erbil, led by the martyr Sardar Saeed Sofi, in what was described as an effort to enact the will of the people under the rule of the former Iraqi regime.

The operation was seen as a direct challenge to the policies of the government at the time and a demonstration of the Peshmerga’s capacity to confront repression. It targeted Ibrahim Zangana, then governor of Erbil, who was associated with the regime of the late Saddam Hussein.

The mission was executed by three members of the Kurdistan Peshmerga forces: Sardar Saeed Sofi, Brigadier General Ayub Yusuf, and Bakhtiar Kawani. The plan had been devised under the direction of Kosrat Rasul Ali, who was then responsible for the Erbil branch of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

According to Dr Abdulwahid Idris, a comrade of Sardar Saeed Sofi, the operation commenced at approximately 08:15. He stated that the mission was carried out successfully, with all three Peshmerga returning safely to their bases in the village of Samaquli.

Dr Idris also clarified details surrounding the vehicle used in the operation, noting that it was a Toyota Corona rather than a Brazilian-made car. He added that, in the aftermath, the former regime launched a widespread campaign of arrests, targeting owners of white Brazilian-made vehicles based on incorrect assumptions.

The operation remains a notable moment in the history of the Kurdish struggle, reflecting the resistance efforts carried out against the Ba’athist regime during that period.


PUKMEDIA