The Nineveh Plain Protection Units, or NPU, are one of three Christian militias protecting the Iraqi city of Qaraqosh. The biggest Christian town on the Nineveh plains, Qaraqosh fell to ISIS in 2014 and was retaken by Iraqi government forces this week.
Athra Kado, an NPU fighter, on Saturday pointed out rocket bases and materials in a hall in a church compound which he said was a "factory for (making) rockets. Mostly rockets and there is other places for making IEDs."
"This is a hall (that) belonged to the church. They (referring to ISIS group) used it and they didn't do anything to the church. They didn't burn it because of their factory," Kado said.
The Nineveh plains is home to a large Christian minority, mostly Assyrians and Chaldeans, many of whom fled the advance of ISIS when the area fell to the militants two-and-a-half years ago. Many of them live in displaced people's camps in north of Iraq, while others have emigrated to the West.
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