Kurdish Refugees

Kurdish refugees fleeing Saddam's war against the Kurds in Iraq

The Kurdish Wars in Iraq

 

The Kurdish people are a Sunni Muslim ethnic group that lives in the Middle East, in lands divided among Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The Kurds have never enjoyed indpendence as a free nation, and various Kurdish groups (militants, freedom fighters) have engaged in wars against the governments of the nations they live in. Here is a list of Iraqi Kurdish wars and rebellions.


Kurdish Revolt1922-1924 -Rebellion by Iraqi Kurds against the British Mandate. Kurdish tribesmen, led by Sheikh Mahmud, a powerful Kurdish leader, attempted to establish an independent Kurdish nation. British forces, primarily using airpower, suppressed the rebellion.  This turned out to be the first of many Kurdish rebellions against the British Mandate and later, against the Iraqi government.  As with many of the later Kurdish uprisings, the rebels were put down with some aid from rival Kurds.

It should be noted that many similar and often related Kurdish uprisings took place in neighboring Turkey and Iran.  Government forces always succeeded in defeating the rebels in Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Though Kurds in Iraq and Iran did enjoy some successes, they almost always came with the aid of foreign nations.  When the foreign aid eventually is withdrawn, the Kurds’ success, historically, also fades away.


Kurdish Revolt1943 (July to October)-Rebellion suppressed by the Iraqi Army and the British RAF.  Led by Mullah Mustafa Barzani.


Kurdish Revolt--1945 (August 10 to October)-Rebellion suppressed by the Iraqi Army and the British RAF.  Led by Mullah Mustafa Barzani, who escaped into Iran after breaking through an Iraqi Army force. Once in Iran, Mustafa Barzani and his forces joined the army of the new “Mahabad Republic,” the first independent, though in this case, (short-lived) Kurdish state.  After Mahabad’s crushing by the Iranian Army, Barzani led his forces back into Iraq on April 28, 1947.


Kurdish Campaign1947 (May 27 to June 15)- After returning to Iraq from the failed Mahabad Republic, Iraqi government persecution (arrests, executions, etc.) caused Mustafa Barzani and 496 followers to begin a fighting retreat from the Barzan region in northern Iraq through Turkey and into Iran in an attempt to reach the Soviet Union. They reached the U.S.S.R. on June 15, 1947, followed in hot pursuit by the Iranian Army. (O’Ballance, 1973).


Iraqi Kurdish Revolt—(1961-1970) –After a period of relative calm, Iraqi government promises of Kurdish autonomy, or self-rule, went unfulfilled, sparking discontent and eventual rebellion among the Kurds in 1961.


Intra-Iraqi Kurdish warfare (1978-1979) –In 1975, Jalal Talabani formed the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)-urban-based and leftist) in opposition the Barzani-led Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP).


Kurdish Revolt1983-1988 –During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Iraqi Kurds, aided by Iran, fought against Iraqi government forces. In 1987 and 1988, the Iraqi military used chemical weapons to kill thousands of Kurds (including many civilians) in a successful effort to break the back of the resistance.

 


Kurdish Revolt1983-1988 –During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Iraqi Kurds, aided by Iran, fought against Iraqi government forces. In 1987 and 1988, the Iraqi military used chemical weapons to kill thousands of Kurds (including many civilians) in a successful effort to break the back of the resistance.

 


Iraqi Kurdish Revolt—(1991) –Encouraged by the sudden defeat of Saddam’s forces in Kuwait and spurred by appeals by President George H. W. Bush of the U.S., Kurds rose up against the Iraqi government With the bulk of his elite forces having escaped from the fighting in Kuwait and southern Iraq, Saddam was able to smash the revolt, causing hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees to flee into neighboring Turkey and Iran to escape.


Intra-Iraqi Kurdish warfare —(1996) – Combat between various Kurdish militias.


Islamic State War--(2014-Ongoing)-The Islamic State Jihadists attacked Kurdish areas in Iraq during their offensive against Iraq. The Kurdish Peshmerga forces faced their first real combat in a generation as they defended their territory. The allies of the Kurds in this war include the United States, Britain, France, the Shia-dominated Iraqi government, and Iran, among others.

 

References:

1. Kohn, George C. Dictionary of Wars. New York: Facts On File Publications. 1999.

2. Dupuy, R. Ernest and Trevor N. Dupey. The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. to the Present New York, New York: Harper & Row. 1993.

Iranian History -http://www.fouman.com

See also:

Wars of Iraq

Wars of the Middle East

 

 

 
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