The Surchi are an important Kurdish tribe in Iraqi Kurdistan who live near the Barzanis and have often been at odds with them. In the time of Mulla Mustafa Barzani, the Surchi were josh supporting the government of Abdul Karim Kassem. During the Kurdish uprising of 1991, however, the Surchi, under their leader Omar Surchi, joined the Kurdish nationalists.
The Surchi became one of the leaders of the tribally oriented Kurdistan Conservative Party (also known as the Kurdish Tribes Society or Mosul Vilayet Council) that was created in September 1991. On 16 June 1996, the Barzani-led Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) killed Hussein Agha Surchi, an important member of the Surchi family, during a squabble over the Surchis' ultimate allegiances in the KDP's civil war against the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The incident caused a great deal of ill will among the Kurds and illustrated their continuing tribal divisions.
Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Michael M. Gunter.