( CNN ) When ISIS overran their villages near Mosul in August 2014 , a small group of Assyrians , a Middle Eastern minority with a history reaching back more than 4,000 years , picked up weapons and formed their own militia : Dwekh Nawsha -- `` The Sacrificers . '' Assyrians belong to the rapidly dwindling Christian population of Iraq -- recent estimates from CAPNI , the largest Christian relief organization in northern Iraq put the number as low as 300,000 compared with 1.5 million 20 years ago -- and many among them see the fight with ISIS as a final battle for survival against the Islamists . `` 'Ah , Assyrians -- I 've read about them in the Bible , ' is what many people say , '' says Marcus Naissan , a 25-year-old electrical technician and member of Dwekh Nawsha . `` But we are not just history , we are still alive , we are still here . '' The exodus of Christians from Iraq started prior to ISIS -- and the civil war in the mid-2000s took an especially heavy toll . Today , most Iraqi Christians live in Kurdish areas in the north , which have been a relative haven of stability . And so far , the Kurds have been taking heavy losses to defend Christian and Yezidi minorities against ISIS . Every night , the fighters hear the rumbling sound of coalition airplanes in the sky over Baqufa where they have their safe house just a few miles from the frontline . Here they relax , patrol the empty streets of the village and try to hinder ISIS suicide commandos from entering the near city of Dohuk where UNHCR says almost 100,000 refugees -- many of them Christians -- have found a temporary place to stay . So far , the militia has only assembled and trained 40 fighters . But Rama Baito , manager of the digital media presence of the group , shows me his direct messages on Facebook -- dozens of ex-soldiers , diaspora Assyrians or Christian activists from all over the world contact him and offer monetary support or their own presence on the frontline . `` We have 200 people waiting right now , because we simply do not have enough weapons and training capacities , '' Baito says . Since they are still small and have no heavy weaponry , the Dwekh Nawsha fighters say they coordinate closely with local Kurdish Peshmerga commanders and share the same foxholes on the frontline . The fighters are a very mixed bunch . A young baker , carrying his large military dagger in an elegant sheath , says he brought his father when he enlisted . `` But now , we see each other only rarely because he is in another unit of our group , '' he says . `` When I go on vacation , he goes to the field and the other way around . So every time we swap units , I wait for him , give him a quick hug and then leave back home . '' Right now , ISIS is focused on other fronts -- the yellow fields of the Niniveh plains are quite safe for the mostly young fighters . But none of them thinks victory over ISIS will be quick , nor that fighting will end immediately afterward . All they can do now is patrol the deserted alleys of Baqufa , making sure the wild dogs do n't take over the town and hope one day their relatives will be able to return .
Christian are an ancient Middle Eastern minority -- they are part of the rapidly dwindling Assyrians population of Iraq . After ISIS overran their villages , some Christian formed a militia to fight for survival against the terror group .