After the assassination of one of its commanders by the YPG, the Khabour Guards (a small Assyrian self-defense militia) broke their ties with the Syriac Union Party and aligned themselves with the ADP around mid-2015.[2][15] In November 2015, the ADP issued a statement condemning purported human rights violations in Rojava by the governing Democratic Union Party (PYD).[16] Despite this, the ADP joined the PYD-led Syrian Democratic Council one month later, with Wail Mîrza serving as the party's representative in the assembly.[17] In January 2017, the Assyrian Democratic Party reached a deal with the PYD, according to which the Khabour Guards and Nattoreh would become the sole security force for the Assyrian villages in the Khabur valley.