A Christian militia in Iraq, called the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, has said it has taken back a traditionally Christian village from Daesh with the help of the U.S.-led international coalition.

The Assyrian-led militia announced on its Facebook page that it has liberated the village of Badanah in the southern Mosul countryside.

The militia also said this was their “first operation” supported by airstrikes and weapons from the international coalition, according to Vocativ.com.

The militia has shared pictures and a video showing their fighters with their flags in the village, which had been destroyed by Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh.

In May, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Jan Kubis, submitted a briefing to the Security Council condemning “in the strongest possible terms the continued killings, kidnapping, rape and torture of Iraqis by [Daesh] ‘ISIL’, which may constitute crimes against humanity, war crimes and even genocide.”

In March, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged for the first time that genocide being committed by Islamic State, which is also known as IS, ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, against Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.

-Joining the Iraqi Army in their fight to liberate the historical city of Mosul, the Nineveh Protection Units have proven to be a formidable force against Daesh terrorists.
For the Assyrians, this fight to liberate Mosul is a personal one: Daesh not only occupies their ancestral lands, but the aforementioned terrorist group has attempted to destroy much of their history.

Read More: Christian Post

Featured Image – ‎Nineveh Plain Protection Units – NPU