Iraq's First Christian Unit Set to Battle Islamic State Forces

The Tiger Guards, Iraq’s first entirely Christian military unit, made up of about 600 fighters, graduated on March 12 at a military base in Fishkhabur, Kurdistan, on Iraq’s northern border with Syria. The men, who come from areas occupied by Islamic State (IS) militants, received training in part from members of the US military, and will fight alongside Kurdish Peshmerga forces, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

According to Agence France-Presse, the men will fight to retake those areas now occupied by IS, and will answer to the autonomous government in Kurdistan. This video shows them jumping through flaming hoops, and later marching. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty