Nineveh Plain Protection Units
| Nineveh Plain Protection Units | |
|---|---|
| Participant in the Iraqi Civil War (2014–present) | |
|
Emblem of the NPU. | |
| Active | December 2014–Present |
| Area of operations | Northern Iraq |
| Strength | 4,000 (reserves) |
| Part of |
 Assyrian Democratic Movement[1] |
| Allies |
 Peshmerga |
| Opponents |
 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
The Nineveh Plain Protection Units (Syriac: ܚܕܝ̈ܘܬ ܣܬܪܐ ܕܫܛܚܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ Ḥḏāywāṯ Settārā da-Šṭāḥā d-Nīnwē; Arabic: وحدات حماية سهل نينوى) or NPU is a military organization that was formed late in 2014, largely but not exclusively by indigenous Assyrian Christians in Iraq, to defend against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[2] The Nineveh plains are a region where Assyrians in Iraq have traditionally been concentrated.[3] By December 2014, the group said it had between 500 and 1000 men in training, that the US was helping train them, and that financial support was coming mostly from Assyrians in the US and Europe.[2][3] In February 2015 there were unverified reports that the group had 5,000 Assyrian men registered to be trained, 500 are already training for combat, and 500 volunteers from the group stationed in threatened towns.[1][4]
See also
References
- 1 2 Jack Moore for Newsweek. Feb 4, 2015 4000 Strong NPU Assyrian Soldiers
- 1 2 John Burger for Aletia. December 4, 2014 Christians in Iraq Forming Militia to Defend, and Possibly Retake, Ancestral Lands
- 1 2 Steven Nelson for US News and World Report. Feb. 6, 2015 Iraqi Assyrian Christians Form Anti-ISIS Militia, and You Can Legally Chip In
- ↑ Nour Malas for the Wall Street Journal Feb 3, 2015 The Assyrian Christians Take Up Arms To Fight ISIS