Khabour Guards

Khabour Guards
ܡܘܬܒܐ ܕܢܛܘܪ̈ܐ ܕܚܒܘܪ Mawtḇā d-Nāṭorē d-Ḥābor
Leaders	Council of the Khabur Guard Forces, chaired by Shamoun Kako (formal authority)[1] Rueel Sulaqa (chief field commander)[1] Nabil Warde (spokesman) Elias Nasser (WIA)[2] David Gindo †[2][3]
Dates of operation	2012/13 – present
Allegiance	Syriac Union Party (until 2015, from 2019) Assyrian Democratic Party (from 2015)
Active regions	Khabur Valley, Hasaka Governorate, Syria
Size	"Hundreds" (2013)[4] c. 75–150 (2017 estimate)[1]
Part of	Syrian Democratic Forces[1] General Command of the Assyrian Forces (Sept. – Dec. 2018) Syriac-Assyrian Military Council[5] (from 2019)
Allies	Nattoreh Syriac Military Council Sutoro People's Protection Units Women's Protection Units
Opponents	Islamic State  Turkey Syrian National Army 2013–2014: Al-Nusra Front Ahrar al-Sham
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Eastern al-Hasakah offensive Western al-Hasakah offensive Al-Shaddadi offensive (2016) Manbij offensive Raqqa campaign (2016–2017) 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria
Website	Facebook

The Khabour Guards (Syriac: ܡܘܬܒܐ ܕܢܛܘܪ̈ܐ ܕܚܒܘܪ, romanized: Mawtḇā d-Nāṭorē d-Ḥābor; Arabic: مجلس حرس الخابور الآشوري) is an Assyrian militia in Syria created after the collapse of Syrian government control in the Assyrian-majority Khabur valley in the northwest of al-Hasakah Governorate. The militia is composed of local Assyrians and maintains checkpoints in several Assyrian settlements, most notably Tell Tamer. It was initially established as an independent force, but is now affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Though officially neutral and nonpartisan, the Khabour Guards are de facto affiliated with the Assyrian Democratic Party^[1] along with Nattoreh, and as a part of the Syriac-Assyrian Military Council of the Syrian Democratic Forces, they are affiliated with the Syriac Union Party.