Christian Fighters in Northern Iraq Liberated ISIL-Held Village

Rasa - Christian fighters in Northern Iraq announced they had driven out ISIL militants from the ethnically Assyrian village of Badanah, ending a two-year occupation.

News ID: 423218

Date: 04 September 2016 - 23:48

RNA - The group called Nineveh Plains Protection Units said on its Facebook page that the village, on the Khazer war front South of Mosul, was liberated with air support by the US-led Coalition and added that heavy and medium-sized weapons were used in the fight, Rudaw reported.

The NPU said this was its first military operation against ISIL to liberate their “traditionally Christian village,” which was captured by the militants when they stormed across Iraq in June 2014, capturing territories that included Mosul, the ISIL stronghold in Iraq ever since.

Pictures and videos published on the group’s Facebook page showed the liberation of the village and flags being hoisted by the fighters in the village.

The Nineveh plains, located mainly in the Nineveh province that includes Mosul, have been among the most volatile areas of Iraq, with a rich mixture of ethnic and religious groups.

Christian localities in the area have often been vulnerable amid the ongoing tensions that forced many of the families to leave their homes and migrate to Europe.

Hundreds of Christian fighters have been trained by the Kurdish Peshmerga in the last two years and they have taken part in some frontline battles against ISIL.

According to a Rudaw report published last June, around 1,000 Christian fighters in the Nineveh Plains have been undergoing military training, and asking Baghdad, Erbil and the international community for arms to liberate their territories from ISIL.

ISIL has suffered a series of setbacks in recent months, losing large swathes of territories that were under its control to the Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi Army.

Iraqi authorities, including US military officials, say they expect to evict ISIL from its stronghold in Mosul this year.

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