Qaraqosh, is an Assyrian city in the Nineveh Governorate, of Iraq located about 32 kilometres (20 mi) southeast of the city of Mosul and 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Erbil amid agricultural lands, close to the ruins of the ancient Assyrian cities Kalhu and Nineveh.
Iraqi Assyrians are an ethnic and linguistic minority group, indigenous to Upper Mesopotamia. They are defined as Assyrians residing in the country of Iraq, or members of the Assyrian diaspora who are of Iraqi-Assyrian heritage. They share a common history and ethnic identity, rooted in shared linguistic, cultural and religious traditions, with Assyrians in Iran, Turkey and Syria, as well as with the Assyrian diaspora elsewhere. A significant number have emigrated to the United States, notably to the Detroit and Chicago; a sizeable community is also found in Sydney, Australia.
Shabaks are a group of people who live east of Mosul in Iraq. Their origin is uncertain and they are considered Kurds by some scholars. They speak Shabaki and live in a religious community (ta'ifa) in the Nineveh Plains. The ancestors of Shabaks were followers of the Safaviyya order, which was founded by the Kurdish mystic Safi-ad-din Ardabili in the early 14th century. The primary Shabak religious text is called the Buyruk or Kitab al-Manaqib, which is written in Turkmen.
Nineveh Plains is a region in Nineveh Governorate in Iraq, to the north and east of the city Mosul. Control over the region is contested between Iraqi security forces, KRG security forces, Assyrian security forces, Babylon Brigade and the Shabak Militia.
The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world.
Al-Hamdaniya District is a district in the north-east of the Nineveh Governorate (Ninawa) of Iraq.
The Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council, popularly known as Motwa, is a political party in Iraq, that was founded in 2007, on the initiative of Sarkis Aghajan, a high-ranking member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. As a party that represents minority communities, CSAPC participated in several elections, both on national, regional and local levels, mainly in various coalitions with other minority parties. The current president of the party is Jameel Zaito.
The disputed territories of northern Iraq are regions defined by article 140 of the Constitution of Iraq as being Arabised during Baath Party rule in Iraq. Most of these regions are inhabited by non-Arabs, including Kurds, Assyrians, Yazidis, Turkmens/Turkomans, and Shabaks.
The Syriac Military Council is an Assyrian/Syriac military organisation in Syria, part of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The establishment of the organisation was announced on 8 January 2013. According to the Syriac Military Council, the goal of the organisation is to stand up for the national rights of and to protect Assyrians in Syria. It operates mostly in the densely populated Assyrian areas of Al-Hasakah Governorate, and is affiliated to the Syriac Union Party.
The Assyrian exodus from Iraq is a part of refers to the mass flight and expulsion of ethnic Assyrians from Iraq, a process which was initiated from the beginning of Iraq War in 2003 and continues to this day. Leaders of Iraq's Assyrian community estimate that over two-thirds of the Iraqi Assyrian population may have fled the country or been internally displaced since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 until 2011. Reports suggest that whole neighborhoods of Assyrians have cleared out in the cities of Baghdad and Basra, and that Sunni insurgent groups and militias have threatened Assyrians. Following the campaign of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Iraq in August 2014, one quarter of the remaining Iraqi Assyrians fled the Jihadists, finding refuge in Turkey and Kurdistan Region.
The Syriac Security Office, commonly known as the Sutoro or the Sutoro Police, is a Assyrian Christian police force in Jazira Region of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in Syria, where it works in concert with the general Asayish police force of the canton with the mission to police ethnic Assyrian areas and neighbourhoods. Its establishment is associated with the Syriac Union Party (SUP).
The Internal Security Forces, also known as the Asayish in the Jazira, Euphrates, and Afrin Regions, is the internal security and police force in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Formed in the early stages of the Syrian Civil War, it had initially been established to police areas controlled by the Kurdish Supreme Committee. In October 2013, the Asayish claimed to have 4,000 members; by 2017, the number had reportedly risen to over 15,000.
Between 1 and 15 August 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) expanded territory in northern Iraq under their control. In the region north and west from Mosul, the Islamic State conquered Zumar, Sinjar, Wana, Mosul Dam, Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe, Batnaya and Kocho, and in the region south and east of Mosul the towns Bakhdida, Karamlish, Bartella and Makhmour
The Nineveh Plain Protection Units or NPU is an Assyrian paramilitary organization that was formed in late 2014, largely but not exclusively by Assyrians in Iraq to defend themselves against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Nineveh Plains is a region where Assyrians originate from and have lived there for thousands of years.
The Shabak Brigade, also known as the Shabak Militia or Liwa al-Shabak is an Iraqi armed group that was formed in 2014. The group was initially formed with around 1,500 militiamen in order to regain control of the Nineveh Plains from the Islamic State (ISIS).
A number of Christian militias in Iraq and Syria have been formed since the start of the Syrian Civil War and in the 2013-2017 War. The militias are composed of fighters mainly from the Assyrian but also include Arab and Armenian Christian communities in Syria, and Assyrians in Iraq have formed militias in the north to protect Assyrian communities, towns and villages in the Assyrian homeland and Nineveh Plains. Some foreign Christian fighters from the Western world have also joined these militias.
Dawronoye is a secular, leftist, national liberation movement among the Assyrian people. Ideologically characterized by progressive ideas and including socialist elements, its founding roots can be traced to the late 1980s in the town of Midyat in Turkey. The modern manifestation of the movement is controversial among Assyrian organizations worldwide, particularly due to its ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
The Nineveh Plain Forces or NPF was a military organization that was formed on 6 January 2015 by the indigenous Christian Assyrian people in Iraq, in cooperation with Peshmerga, to defend against Islamic State. The Nineveh Plains is a region at the heart of the Assyrian homeland. The militia is affiliated with the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party and the Beth Nahrain Patriotic Union (HBA), the latter being part of the secular Dawronoye movement. It participated in the Battle of Mosul (2016–2017).
The Babylon Movement is a political party situated in Iraq. Founded in 2014, it is the political wing of the Babylon Brigades, a Christian militia that was formed as part of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces. Rayan al-Kildani currently leads the party since founding it in 2014.
Rayan Salem Sadiq Al-Kildani or Rayan al-Kildani is an ethnic Assyrian politician from Iraq. He is currently serving as the general secretary of the Babylon Movement, as well as its military component, the Babylon Brigade. He rose to power after founding the party in 2014, which had initially been involved in defending the Nineveh Plains from ISIS when they were at their most active.
Iraqi Armed Forces 
Peshmerga 
Nineveh Plain Protection Units 
Al-Qaeda in Iraq 
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant 
