• A militiaman looks towards the ISIS frontline from St. George's Church.
    A militiaman looks towards the ISIS frontline from St. George's Church.
  • A Christian fighter looks out from St. George's Church.
    A Christian fighter looks out from St. George's Church.
  • A wedding decoration sits idle in the attic of a marriage hall now used at a military hospital near the frontline with ISIS fighters in Telskuf. Peshmerga forces in Telskuf frequently come under mortar fire from Islamic State fighters just two miles away.
    A wedding decoration sits idle in the attic of a marriage hall now used at a military hospital near the frontline with ISIS fighters in Telskuf. Peshmerga forces in Telskuf frequently come under mortar fire from Islamic State fighters just two miles away.
  • A Christian militiaman looks through the sight of his assault weapon towards the ISIS frontline.
    A Christian militiaman looks through the sight of his assault weapon towards the ISIS frontline.
  • A militiaman stands near the broken body of a Christ statue placed upon the altar of the 13th century St. Jacob's Church.
    A militiaman stands near the broken body of a Christ statue placed upon the altar of the 13th century St. Jacob's Church.
  • The fascade of St. George's Church stands damaged from war with Islamic State.
    The fascade of St. George's Church stands damaged from war with Islamic State.
  • A Christian militiaman passes a tableau of The Last Supper inside St. George's Church in Telskuf.
    A Christian militiaman passes a tableau of The Last Supper inside St. George's Church in Telskuf.
  • A militiaman patrols through rubble in Telskuf near the frontline with ISIS fighters northern Iraq.
    A militiaman patrols through rubble in Telskuf near the frontline with ISIS fighters northern Iraq.
  • The streets of Telskuf lie abandoned near the frontline with ISIS fighters in Telskuf, northern Iraq.
    The streets of Telskuf lie abandoned near the frontline with ISIS fighters in Telskuf, northern Iraq.
  • A Christian militiaman looks over a broken figure of Christ inside St. George's Church.
    A Christian militiaman looks over a broken figure of Christ inside St. George's Church.
  • A militiaman stands guard atop St. George's Church in Telskuf, near the frontline with ISIS in northern Iraq.
    A militiaman stands guard atop St. George's Church in Telskuf, near the frontline with ISIS in northern Iraq.
  • A Christian fighter looks toward the sunset in the abandoned streets of Telskuf near the frontline with ISIS fighters in northern Iraq.
    A Christian fighter looks toward the sunset in the abandoned streets of Telskuf near the frontline with ISIS fighters in northern Iraq.

Region in focus - Iraqi ghost town used as base to fight ISIL

Fatima Al Marzouqi

November 05, 2015

  • English
  • Arabic

Telskuf is an historically Assyrian town in northern Iraq whose original inhabitants were Assyrians belonging to the Chaldean Catholic Church. It is located in northern Iraq, about 28 kilometres north of Mosul.

However, since 2014, all of the town’s 11,000 predominantly Chaldean Catholic residents fled when it was overrun by ISIL before being retaken by Peshmerga forces with the aid of American airstrikes. Of the 1,800 families that fled, some 40 percent left Iraq and have immigrated to Europe, according to Safaa Khamro, commander of the Nineveh Plain Forces Christian militia.

What remains is a ghost town, destroyed by ISIL and now used by Peshmerga International Volunteers, a group of former soldiers advising frontline Kurdish Peshmerga and NPF Christian militiamen. It serves as a base and training ground near the frontline with ISIL fighters just 3 kilometres away.

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