Cham Imam Hasan (a)

We prepared for the first operation to penetrate into the depths of the enemy’s position. Ibrahim, Javad Afrasiabi, Reza Dastvareh, Reza Cheraghi and four other people were chosen. Then two local Kurds who knew the area very well were added to us. We took food for one week, which mostly consisted of bread and dates. We packed enough weapons, explosives, and anti-vehicle mines in our backpacks and moved out. We crossed the altitudes and then the Imam Hasan (a) river. We entered the Cham[1] Imam Hasan (a) region. A brigade of the Iraqi military was deployed there. We hid between the furrows and among the hills. The enemy didn’t think that the Iranian forces could cross these altitudes. Therefore, we were easily able to be busy preparing the map. We were in that region for three days. Heavy rains stopped our work a little bit; but, with the efforts of the forces good maps were prepared for the region. After the reconnaissance was finished and the maps prepared, we went to the military road. We put a few anti-vehicle mines in it. Then we quickly moved to come back to the location of our forces. We hadn’t gone very far when the sound of several explosions came. We saw the enemy’s vehicles and the armored personnel carrier which were burning on fire. We quickly moved away from the danger zone. After a few minutes we realized that the enemy tanks with the forces on foot were chasing us. We reached the Imam Hasan (a) River by crossing from inside the furrows and among the hills. After passing the river the tanks were not able to chase us. We found a suitable place on the other side of the river and rested. After a few minutes the sound of a helicopter could be heard from far! We hadn’t thought about this one. Ibrahim immediately put the maps in one backpack, gave them to Reza, and said, “Javad and I will stay. You go back quickly.” Nothing could be done. We gave them the extra cartridges and a few grenades, and then we separated from them sadly and moved on. This entire mission was to obtain these maps. These would greatly help in the victory of the next operations. From far we saw that Ibrahim and Javad were constantly changing their position and shooting at the helicopter with their 3g guns. The Iraqi helicopter was shooting at them constantly and circling. After two hours we got to the altitudes. No more sounds were coming. One of the soldiers who loved Ibrahim very much was crying. We had no news from them. We didn’t know whether they were alive or not. I remembered that yesterday when we were hiding among the furrows and didn’t have anything to do, Ibrahim had started a game with a special calmness. Then he had taught some words in Farsi to the Kurds of the group. He was so calm that we hadn’t felt at all that we were among the enemy’s stations. When it was praying time he wanted to recite the Call to Prayer in a loud voice! But due to the insistence of the others, he recited the Call to Prayer in a soft voice. Then he started praying with a special spiritual state. During this time Ibrahim had a bravery which removed fear from the hearts of others. It was nighttime. From the last time that we had seen Ibrahim a few hours had passed. We got to the meeting place. We had agreed for Ibrahim and Javad to come to this place before daylight. We rested for a few hours, but they didn’t come. The sun was gradually coming up. We had to get out of this place. The forces were repeating the Names of God and reading supplications. We were getting ready to leave when a sound came from far. We armed our guns and sat down. After a few second we realized from the sounds that they were from Ibrahim and Javad. Happiness was evident in everyone’s face. We went to help them with fresh forces. We moved out of that region quickly. The maps obtained from this mission were very useful in the next attacks. These couldn’t have been obtained without the epic help of members of the group such as Ibrahim and Javad. The next evening Ibrahim and Javad were with the others, ready and strong as usual. With Reza we went to Ibrahim. I said, “Brother Ibram, What did you do yesterday when the helicopter arrived?” He responded with his special and everlasting calmness, “God helped. Javad and I separated from each other. We changed our positions constantly and shot at the helicopter. And, the helicopter circled constantly and shot at us. When its bullets finished, it went back. We moved towards the altitudes quickly before the soldiers on foot arrived. However, a few small shrapnel hit us for this memory to remain with us!”

[1] Cham: The River and its surroundings in the local language.