Syriac Military Council on a mission to protect northern Syria’s Christian villages

Over the course of Operation Peace Spring, Christian villages in Tel Tamr have been pummeled by Turkey and and its aligned forces.

The Syriac Military Council, an Assyrian/Syriac military organization is assigned by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to protect the Christian villagers in the area. “Erdogan-backed terrorists are 2 kilometers away from this village. You can hear their shelling and bombardment. We, as the Syriac Military Council, are spread across the Assyrian villages and are ready to defend our citizens from any attack, together with the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian army,” explains Syriac Military Council fighter Carlos Ashuri. Madelin is a local Syriac mother of three. She left her children at home and joined the group to protect their village. “We Assyrians are 17,000 people spread across the Jazira Region in northeastern Syria. Our villages were paradise on earth. Before ISIS coming to the region, other differently named groups attacked our region. After the situation calmed down, we were living peacefully. Life was somehow good. Now, Turkey is coming and repeating the same history. They want to return the mess and conflicts to northeast Syria” Most Christians fled the 33 villages they had inhabited in the Tel Tamr region during Islamic State’s onslaught in 2014. Nabil Warda, spokesperson for Syriac Military Council, provides details for their employment in the area. “Our forces have been deployed in eight villages. They’ve come to the region to over see the situation. Thanks to God, the situation of the villages is calm. They’ve also welcomed displaced people from Sari Kani who have come to the Assyrian villages.” Conflicts took place in six Tel Tamr villages on Sunday, November 3. Three people were killed and four injured. One of the dead was Zau Seng, a member of an international humanitarian organization the Free Burma Rangers. Reporting by Roj Eli Zalla in Tel Tamr Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed