St. Mary
ishtartv.com-
AINA
Kurdish
forces belonging to the People's Protection Units (YPG) have setup training
camps in three Assyrian villages on the Khabur river, in the Hasaka province in
northeast Syria. The largest camp is in the village of Tel Nasri, with more
than 200 YPG fighters now living in the village. Two smaller camps have been
setup in two other Assyrian villages. The YPG fighters are being trained by
Russian military personnel. The camps were setup beginning on January 26.
The
YPG is the armed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
Narsai
Oshana, an Assyrian from Tel Nasri who now lives in Chicago, has spoken to
Assyrians from Tel Nasri and Tel Tamer. Mr. Oshana says the YPG have stated
they will only stay in the villages for the duration of the training, which is
expected to last about two months.
"I
don't expect them to leave," said Mr. Oshana, "and neither do the
Assyrians in Syria."
Mr.
Oshana reports that on January 31 the Asayish, the intelligence arm of the YPG,
opened an office in Tel Tamer.
Tel
Nasri is about 900 meters from Tel Tamar and both are on the north bank of the
river.
Before
the Syrian civil war began Tel Nasri had 180 Assyrian households, with a
population of 950. Today there are only 4 or 5 households in Tel Nasri, with
about 25 Assyrians. About 60 households from Tel Nasri have fled to Beirut, 20
to Tel Tamer, and the rest to America, Australia, Canada and Europe.
Tel
Nasri and Tel Tamer are two of 35 Assyrian villages on the Khabur river which
were attacked by ISIS on February 23, 2015, causing nearly 3000 Assyrian to
flee their homes. Most have not returned. ISIS captured 253 Assyrians in that
initial attack and has been releasing them for ransom in batches; there are now
73 Assyrians from Khabur still being held by ISIS (AINA 2016-01-29).
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