In Northeastern Syria, along the Khabur River, sit dozens of Assyrian Christian villages. Those villages are under increased threat and savage assault from ISIS. Families are being kidnapped or forced to flee their homes. All the while weapons and training are being provided to Syrian Muslim rebels by both Turkey and the Obama administration in the U.S.
According to a translated report from ARA News:
Dozens of Assyrian Christian families have defected from a village tel tamar in Hassaka, Syria today as a result of clashes between YPG and ISIS. The Assyrian agency for human rights issued a statement that “ISIS has controlled several villages inhabited by Assyrian Christians like Tal-Shamiram, Tal-Tala, Tal-Tal, Tal-Hormuz, Qabar Shamia and others. ISIS has also broken into homes and taken large numbers of hostages while Christian families are imprisoned in their homes as a result of ISIS snipers who controlled Yelda castle at the direction of the near Assyrian villages which have not yet fallen.
Here is a map to show where the region in question is:
Earlier this month, it was reported that Assyrian Christian fighters dug in to protect churches along the river and have been fighting valiantly against ISIS. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any political will in the west to help arm Christians. The villages along the Khabur River were inhabited by a total of 35,000 people but that the number has been drastically reduced to less than a tenth of that.
Assyrian fighters stand guard outside a church.
As Shoebat.com recently reported, the U.S. and Turkey have agreed to both arm and train Syrian Muslim rebels to fight ISIS but Turkey has indicated that they will also go after Bashar al-Assad. This poses a problem because many of these weapons could end up in the hands of ISIS fighters who are raiding these villages.
Assyrian Christian Soldiers.
Farther east, in Mosul, Iraq Assyrian Christian fighters are reportedly showing signs of success against ISIS but are short on ammunition:
“We have only 90 rounds for each of our Kalashnikovs and we haven’t the money to buy more ammunition,” says Sergon, commander of a band of two dozen ill-armed Christian militiamen living in the deserted village of Bakufa, close to the Isis frontline. The 1,500 Assyrian Christians who once lived in Bakufa fled when Isis fighters from Mosul 18 miles to the south captured and later lost the village during their offensive last August.
The Isis men are now dug in a mile away from Bakufa. On a field radio we can hear one of the fighters loudly demanding in Arabic that somebody bring him some drinking water. “We also hear them talking in Turkish and English,” says Sergon. “But, going by their accents, we think those speaking English are Chechens and Afghans, who don’t have a common language.”
As the Obama administration and Turkey’s Erdogan seek to arm Muslim rebels, courageous Christian soldiers in Iraq and Syria are being ignored.