Operation Nineveh Rising
Sons of Liberty International’s campaign to help the Assyrian community of Iraq raise an army to fight against ISIS.
Operation Nineveh Rising was an incredible success, deploying teams of American military veterans to train hundreds of Assyrians who used that training to defeat ISIS on the battlefield.
“My men and I would be dead if we hadn’t been trained by SOLI” – Safaa Khamro, NPF commander
Making Dreams a Reality
Operation Nineveh Rising began in October, 2014 when an Assyrian activist put SOLI founder Matthew VanDyke in contact with a group of Assyrian leaders who dreamed of establishing their own force to defend the Assyrian people. ISIS had overrun Mosul and the Nineveh Plain region of northern Iraq that summer, driving hundreds of thousands of Assyrians from their homes. This tragedy was exacerbated by the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga fleeing the battlefield, leaving Assyrian civilians undefended as ISIS attacked. It became clear that only Assyrians would risk their lives to defend their ancestral homeland and people. They needed their own force.
The Assyrian leadership were desperate for guidance and training to help them create a force. SOLI agreed to help make their dream a reality.
Top Secret
In December, 2014 SOLI founder Matthew VanDyke and a small team of American military veterans established a covert training camp in Sharafya, Iraq. VanDyke and retired Iraqi Army General Behnam Aboosh served as advisors to the Assyrian leadership, consulting on the full range of subjects necessary for creating a new military force. General Behnam Aboosh would later be chosen by the Assyrian leadership to command the NPU, and VanDyke became one of his advisors.
The twenty men trained at the covert camp formed the first unit of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), and several would later receive specialized training to become leaders and trainers themselves.
The Assyrian leadership, pleased with the results of the training, approached the Peshmerga leadership of Kurdistan with VanDyke in early January to reveal the existence of the covert training program and to obtain permission for the expansion of the SOLI training program.
From Citizens to Soldiers
In January, 2015 SOLI began training 330 NPU recruits at a Peshmerga base in Chamchamal, Iraq. When these recruits graduated in February, 2015, SOLI and the NPU had successfully raised an army of well-trained, disciplined soldiers. It had been just four months since SOLI’s first discussion with Assyrian leaders about creating a force.
Twenty of these soldiers were chosen for leadership training in May, 2015, which was taught by a US Army veteran and former West Point instructor. The sergeants and officers who graduated from this training formed the core of NPU leadership.
The Base
In December, 2015 SOLI founder Matthew VanDyke met with General Behnam Aboosh on a dusty part of desert near the town Al Qosh in northern Iraq. The NPU had a serious problem. They desperately needed a military base for both training and defending the Nineveh Plain, and had begun construction by clearing that dusty part of desert but lacked the funds to continue the project. VanDyke assured the General that within 24 hours he would return with the funding needed to finish the NPU base.
VanDyke returned the next day and went with the General to the contractor with $50,000 to complete construction of the base, which was finished in early 2016. Later that year, representatives from the Iraqi Government visited the base. They were so impressed with the base and training that they agreed to provide salaries, weapons, and other resources to the NPU. More on this in the Legacy section below…
Brothers in Arms
The reputation of SOLI and the NPU spread in Iraq and more forces sought our expertise. Another Assyrian force, Dwekh Nawsha, was scheduled to be trained by SOLI but put the training on hold in the miscalculated belief that US government support to them was imminent (the US government instead decided to support the NPU force we had trained). A Yazidi force under the command of famed Yazidi commander Haider Shesho arranged for SOLI training, but delays and complications on their side delayed training until after the Battle of Sinjar, at which point we decided to allocate our resources entirely to the Assyrians since Yazidi participation in the conflict was sparse following that battle.
SOLI was soon contacted by an Assyrian politician seeking training for the Nineveh Plain Forces (NPF), an Assyrian force based in Teleskof, Iraq. The NPF had been trained by the Kurdish Peshmerga; the Peshmerga training provided them with virtually no usable skills and zero time on a range. They were esperate to learn the skills needed to survive and achieve victory against ISIS.
In February, 2016 SOLI deployed a team of trainers to Teleskof for several months of working with the NPF. SOLI trainers lived in Teleskof during the training and used the abandoned town as a real-world training facility for extensive urban combat and small unit tactics training. In April, 2016 we trained the NPF sergeants and officers with a SOLI leadership course taught by a retired US Army Green Beret Colonel.
SOLI’s training of the NPF was featured in a 7 episode History Channel web series about our work.
Battle of Teleskof
In the early morning of May 3, 2016 ISIS launched a massive, surprise attack on Teleskof. The NPF was deployed to the front line to fight alongside the Peshmerga. The NPU defended the northwest corner of the city and a few of their men were wounded before they were forced to withdraw being outgunned by ISIS’ VBIEDs, armored Humvees, and heavier weaponry.
ISIS quickly overran Teleskof, forcing a withdrawal under fire by the Peshmerga, NPU, and SOLI (the three NPF soldiers who were guarding the NPF headquarters in Teleskof were rescued by SOLI and withdrew with us. The remainder of the NPF and some Peshmerga forces remained on the west side of the city, as ISIS had manuevered around them to occupy the city.
Most of the Peshmerga forces fled under a hail of gunfire. SOLI and the few remaining forces held the line on the east side of the city to prevent ISIS from advancing beyond Teleskof. During this nearly 10 hour battle, a team of US Navy SEALs was deployed to assist with the recapture of Teleskof – a deployment which turned tragic when Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV was killed during the battle.
SOLI barely had any battery power on the camera to record the events of that day, but some of what we were able to record can be seen in the video below.
Nineveh Plain Special Forces (NPSF)
One of the main lessons from the Battle of Teleskof was the need for a QRF (Quick Reaction Force) with advanced training and the ability to deploy to the front line within minutes of any emergency. In establishing such a force, SOLI saw an opportunity to address one of the biggest hurdles to Assyrian military success in both the short and long-term – their lack of unity.
The day after the battle, SOLI founder Matthew VanDyke arranged a meeting between the commander of the NPU, Behnam Aboosh, and the commander of the NPF, Safaa Khamro, in Teleskof. This would be the first of several meetings over the following months to achieve what had been impossible by any organization – Assyrian unity and military cooperation.
The QRF, which would double as a Special Forces, was established. Called the Ninieveh Plain Special Forces (NPSF), the unit would be comprised of an equal number of NPU and NPF personnel, along with members of SOLI as advisors and trainers, and commanded by NPU and NPF officers. The soldiers would be specially selected by their commanders for the NPSF and receive advanced training, and available for deployment to the front line on a moment’s notice.
In July, 2016 the first round of selections was completed at the NPU base in Al Qosh after applicants went through a rigorous evaluation program. Training was scheduled to begin in August, when unfortunately a dispute developed between the NPU and NPF that couldn’t be resolved before the battle of Qaraqosh. Even without deployment of the NPSF, the series of meetings that SOLI founder Matthew VanDyke held with the commanders of the NPU and the NPF opened a dialogue between Assyrian forces and laid a foundation for future cooperation.
Battle of Qaraqosh
Assyrian dreams and destiny were realized in October, 2016 when the offensive to retake their largest city, Qaraqosh, began. The NPU, fighting alongside the Iraqi Army, faced fierce resistance from ISIS. Using their SOLI training and under the excellent command of General Behnam Aboosh, the NPU helped liberate their city street by street until ISIS was defeated and Assyrian flags flew over Qaraqosh once again.
Nineveh has Risen
The Iraqi government, impressed with the NPU’s training and organization, made the force a permanent part of the Iraqi security forces. The NPU established a second military base, this time in Qaraqosh, and continue to protect the city and the surrounding Assyrian towns and villages. Defending their ancestral homeland, the NPU will fight for their people and territory, ensuring that what happened under ISIS will never happen again in the Nineveh Plain.
Following the liberation of Qaraqosh, SOLI deployed a team of 5 bomb dogs named the Paws of Liberty to search homes and buinesses for bombs planted by ISIS and unexploded ordnance so that civilians could safely return to Qaraqosh after years of exile. The Paws of Liberty also searched vehicles at checkpoints entering Qaraqosh to help prevent ISIS sleeper cells and VBIEDs from attacking the city, as well as searching the vehicles of friends and family of ISIS that were visiting their ISIS relatives in the city’s prison.
The prison holding ISIS prisoners was of particular concern to the city’s security. In 2017, SOLI trained NPU soldiers based in Qaraqosh to defend the city, including in battle simulations based on hypothetical prison escapes and other potential scenarios they might face.
Sons of Liberty International Accomplishments
- Advised, trained, and supplied the two largest Iraqi Assyrian forces, the NPU and NPF
- Forces we trained were successful in combat against ISIS and suffered no KIA (killed in action)
- Fought alongside NPU, NPF, Peshmerga, and US Navy SEALs in the Battle of Teleskof
- Helped the NPU develop from just a concept into a professional army of hundreds of soldiers
- Served as key advisors to NPU and NPF leadership
- Provided leadership training for the officers and sergeants of the NPU and NPF, with courses taught by former West Point and Special Forces instructors
- Trained NPU personnel to be trainers and trainer assistants
- Provided crucial funding for the construction of the first Iraqi Assyrian military base, the NPU base in Al Qosh
- Supplied dozens of sets of body armor to NPU and NPF soldiers
- Deployed 5 bomb dogs, the Paws of Liberty, to help clear Qaraqosh of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and unexploded ordinance (UXOs)
- Assisted with vehicle searches at NPU checkpoints in Qaraqosh using our 5 bomb dogs and a team of SOLI personnel
- Advocated for the NPU at the US State Department (the NPU did receive limited US support)
- Organized the only intesive and substantive discussions between the NPU and NPF commanders, leading to the creation of a joint NPU-NPF Special Forces unit (NPSF)
- Worked with the Mosul Gallants Force (MGF), a Muslim force, to help their mission of finding ISIS sleeper cells and defending eastern Mosul
- Generated significant media coverage for the NPU and NPF on television, radio, and international publications
- Provided funding and resources for the Erbil Media Center, providing free rooms, internet, transportation, translators, fixers, and body armor
- Featured in a 7 episode History Channel web series training the NPU and NPF