rise of local candidates with the Assyrian Democratic Movement coming second. Only 52% of registered voters participated in this election. Due to the rise of extremism in Iraq shortly after the US-led invasion, many of the villagers in Mosul and Baghdad were targeted for being Christians. On 22 Nov. 2006 Yeshu' Hadaya, the leader of a National Syriac movement was assassinated in Bakhdida. Islamist attacks and invasion At the beginning of July 2014, ISIL forces attempted to occupy the city. The Kurdish Peshmerga and the Assyrian Qaraqosh Protection Committee successfully defended it, while elders, women, and children fled to neighboring towns, thus joining other Christian refugees from nearby Mosul that had previously escaped the city in fear of the extremists. The Islamists proceeded to cut off the town's water supply. This, together with the rise in the price of oil following ISIL's invasion of nearby oil field and an embargo imposed by ISIL forcing nearby Muslim villages to stop trade with Bakhdida, rendered life difficult in the town also burdened with incoming refugees. On 6 August 2014, the Kurdish troops withdrew from the city and the next day Islamists from ISIL invaded the city. Much of the population, including recent arrivals, was left joining the 150,000 Assyrians fleeing, though they were forced to walk towards Erbil without their cars and possessions as Kurdish forces feared Islamist infiltration. All of its citizens fled to Kurdistan Region after the ISIL invasion on August 6, 2014. The town was under control of ISIL until October 19, 2016 when it was liberated as part of the Battle of Mosul. Currently, the Nineveh Plain Protection Units run the security profile in the city and participated alongside the Iraqi Army in the liberation efforts of the city. Geography It is southeast of Mosul. Climate Bakhdida has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Bakhdida is . About of precipitation falls annually. Archaeology Since the late 19th century, various locations on the outskirts of the town were excavated by Hormuzd Rassam. In Balawat (the ancient Assyrian city of Imgur-Enlil) a number of Assyrian artifacts have been excavated; they are currently displayed in the British Museum and Mosul Museum. There is a lot of interest in the archaeology of Baghdida today. It has many Assyrian remains, like those of Tel Bashmoni (Beth Shmoni), Tel Muqortaya, Tel