Lewis
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Iraq's first Christian militia takes stand against al-Qaeda
Tel Asquf, Iraq, September 10: With Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders, Iraq's first Christian militia enforces one simple rule on the border of this little village: 'Anyone not from Tel Asquf, is banned.'
This village in northern Iraq's flash point Nineveh province, frequently targeted by Sunni and Shiite fighters, has now taken security into its own hands with armed patrols and checkpoints at the village's four entrances.
The village borders are marked with a sand barrier built by residents in a bid to stop car bombs breaching the perimeter as they did in 2007 when two such attacks within six months rocked the village and spurred the local authorities into action.
"The terrorists want to kill us because we are Christian. If we don't defend ourselves, who will?" asked militia group leader Abu Nataq.
Associated with the ‘Crusader’ invaders and regarded as well-off, they are often victims of sectarian violence, killings and kidnappings at the hands of both Sunni and Shiite Islamists, as well as criminal gangs.
Iraq's Christians, with the Chaldeans by far the largest community, were said to number as many as 800,000 before the 2003 US-led invasion, but this number is believed to have halved as people fled the brutal sectarian violence.
Neighbourhood militias have become popular in Iraq, particularly with the rise of the Awakening groups of former Sunni insurgents who switched sides and are now paid by US forces to battle al-Qaeda.
But Iraq's Christian population, concentrated in Nineveh and its capital city Mosul, had not until now organised its own fighting force to protect against attack. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... da/359691/
Tel Asquf, Iraq, September 10: With Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders, Iraq's first Christian militia enforces one simple rule on the border of this little village: 'Anyone not from Tel Asquf, is banned.'
This village in northern Iraq's flash point Nineveh province, frequently targeted by Sunni and Shiite fighters, has now taken security into its own hands with armed patrols and checkpoints at the village's four entrances.
The village borders are marked with a sand barrier built by residents in a bid to stop car bombs breaching the perimeter as they did in 2007 when two such attacks within six months rocked the village and spurred the local authorities into action.
"The terrorists want to kill us because we are Christian. If we don't defend ourselves, who will?" asked militia group leader Abu Nataq.
Associated with the ‘Crusader’ invaders and regarded as well-off, they are often victims of sectarian violence, killings and kidnappings at the hands of both Sunni and Shiite Islamists, as well as criminal gangs.
Iraq's Christians, with the Chaldeans by far the largest community, were said to number as many as 800,000 before the 2003 US-led invasion, but this number is believed to have halved as people fled the brutal sectarian violence.
Neighbourhood militias have become popular in Iraq, particularly with the rise of the Awakening groups of former Sunni insurgents who switched sides and are now paid by US forces to battle al-Qaeda.
But Iraq's Christian population, concentrated in Nineveh and its capital city Mosul, had not until now organised its own fighting force to protect against attack. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... da/359691/