Kurdistan

It was the summer of 1358 AHS. We were standing in front of the Salman Mosque after the noon and afternoon prayers. I was talking with Ibrahim. Suddenly one of our friends came up in a hurry and said, “Have you heard the message of the Imam (r.a.)?!” We asked with surprise, “No! What has he said?!” He said, “The Imam has ordered to bring the soldiers of Kurdistan out from under the siege.” Mohammad Shahrudi immediately came and said, “Qasem Tashakkori, Naser Kermani and I are going to Kurdistan.” Ibrahim said, “We will come to.” Then we all went to get ready to go.  It was 4 p.m. We were eleven people who were going towards Kurdistan in a Blazer. All the ammunition we had included a zh-3 shotgun, four guns, and a few hand grenades. Many roads were closed. We had to go on dirt roads a few places. But with God’s help, we got to Sanandaj the next day at noontime. We entered the city without knowing anything. We stopped in front of a newsstand. Ibrahim got off to ask for the address of the Army Headquarters. Suddenly he shouted, “Impious man! What is this that you are selling?!” I looked in surprise. I saw that there were several rows of alcoholic beverages next to the newsstand. Without pausing, Ibrahim loaded the gun and shot at the bottles. The bottles of alcohol broke and poured on the ground. Then he broke the rest of the bottles and angrily went to the young man who was the owner of the kiosk. The young man was very frightened. He had hid himself in the corner of the kiosk. Ibrahim looked at his face. He said calmly, “Young man! Aren’t you Muslim? What are these unclean things that you are selling? Hasn’t God said in the Quran that these impurities are from Satan and that you should avoid them?”[1] The young man shook his head in agreement. He kept saying, “I was wrong. Sorry!” Ibrahim talked to him a little, and then they came out together. The young man showed us the Army Headquarters, and then we moved on. The sound of shotgun bullets broke the silence of the city. Everyone was looking at us in the streets. We moved through the streets without knowing anything. Finally we got to the Army Headquarter in Sanandaj. There were sacks full of dirt in front of all the walls of the Army Headquarters. It looked more like a military fort! No part of the building could be seen. Our knocking was useless, and no one opened the door. They were saying from behind the door, “The city is in the hands of counter-revolutionaries. Don’t stay here. Go to the airport!” We said, “We have come to help you. At least tell us where the airport is!?” One of the soldiers came on the edge of the wall and said, “There is no security here. They might shoot at your car too. Get out of the town quickly from this side. If you go forward a little bit, you will reach the airport. The revolutionary forces are there.” We went to the airport. It was there that we found out what was going on in Sanandaj. Everywhere was in the hands of the counter-revolutionaries except for the Army Headquarters and the airport. There were three battalions of military soldiers and about one battalion of army soldiers. Mortar bombs were being fired from inside of the city towards the airport. We saw Mohammad Borujerdi there for the first time. He was a young man with a golden beard and hair and an attractive, smiling face. Brother Borujerdi managed the forces in that situation very well. Later I found out that he was the Commander of the Army in the south of the country. The next day we had a meeting with brother Borujerdi. The military commanders were there too. He said, “According to the message of the Imam many forces will come. The counter-revolutionaries are also very frightened. They have two important headquarters in the city. We need to have a plan for attacking these two headquarters.” Different things were discussed. Ibrahim said, “As can be seen in the city, the people are not in contact with them at all. It is better if we attack one of the headquarters. If we are successful, we will go to the next headquarter.” Everyone accepted this plan. It was agreed that we should prepare the forces for the attack. But that same day, the army was sent to the Paveh region. Only the soldiers were left in his command. Ibrahim and the other friends visited each of the soldiers’ trenches. They talked to the soldiers and helped their morale. Then they got a pickup truck full of watermelons and distributed them between the soldiers! In this way their friendship increased with the soldiers. They increased the readiness of the forces with different programs. One morning Mr. Khalkhali joined in too. In addition, a few other soldiers came from different cities to the Sanandaj Airport. After the necessary preparations were made, the ammunition was distributed among the soldiers. We attacked one of the headquarters of the counter-revolutionaries in the city before noontime. It became surrounded faster than we had thought, and we captured most of the counter-revolutionaries. We found a large amount of ammunition. There were also many dollars, passports and fake birth certificates! Ibrahim put all of them in a sack and gave them to the person in charge in the army. The second headquarters of the counter-revolutionaries was seized with no conflict. The city was in the hands of the revolutionaries once more. After this incident, the commander of the soldiers said, “If we had waited even a few more years, my soldiers would never have had the dare to attack like this. We owe this to brother Hadi and his companions. They increased the morale of the soldiers by their friendship with them.” During that period, the commanders taught many military techniques and methods of battle to Ibrahim and others. This made them into well trained forces the benefits of which were seen during the period of the 8-year Holy Defense. The events of Sanandaj didn’t take very long, although there were still small clashes in other parts of Kurdistan. We returned to Tehran in Shahrivar of 1358 AHS. Qasem and a few others stayed in Kurdistan and joined the forces of the Martyr Chamran. After we returned, Ibrahim went from Inspection in the Physical Education Organization to the Department of Education. His request was not accepted in the beginning. But, after much follow up he was finally successful. He entered an organization which really needed and needs people like Ibrahim.