It appears the old saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” is remarkably accurate when it comes to female fighters battling Islamic State. These women are as dangerous as they are beautiful. They have ISIS feeling divine fear, and for good reason, ISIS fighters believe they’ll be robbed of paradise if they die by the hand of a woman.
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Here is a run-down of the female militia units fighting back against ISIS:
The Kurds
(Photo: Ahmed Jadallah/REUTERS)
Various Kurdish militia groups have female fighters in their ranks, including the PKK, YPG, and other Peshmerga groups. The Kurdish ethnic group is spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, therefore making them the front line against the northern borders of the ISIS caliphate.
PKK is the most combat-tested group and has been active in fighting a guerrilla campaign against Turkish forces since the 1980s. Its actions against America’s ally has led to both countries listing PKK as a terrorist group. Originally Marxists set on creating an independent Kurdish state, PKK has evolved to become more inclusive of other ethnic minorities across the region and has seen new success in fighting ISIS.
The YPG (Women’s Protection Units) are a new, but growing, force in the fight against ISIS. Established in 2013 and comprised of about 7,000 soldiers, YPG units are exclusively female. These women fight alongside their male counterparts and are considered crucial in last year’s fight to save hundreds of Yazidis from ISIS on Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq.
As the official military force of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, the Peshmerga (translated as “one who faces death”) has long had female volunteers. Though there has been a hold on female recruitment due to budgetary issues, some women like 32-year-old Shima Mahiadin have no intention of leaving for a more traditional life. “I don’t want to get married, that’s why I decided to join Peshmerga forces,” says Mahiadin, a five-year Peshmerga veteran.
The Christians
(Photo: DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)
The newest female militia group fighting ISIS is the Female Protection Forces of the Land Between the Two Rivers predominantly made up of Syrian Christian women. The group’s numbers are small, but as a recent upstart it has already begun to make a name for itself fighting ISIS. Around 50 active fighters currently comprise the force, however it is likely to grow larger as it graduates more trainees and gains renown.
Ethnic Assyrian Christians are suffering a genocide at the hands of ISIS, with numbers dwindling from 1.6 million in 2003 to around 300,000 in 2015. “I’m a [practicing] Christian and thinking about my children makes me stronger and more determined in my fight against Daesh [ISIS],” says Christian fighter Babylonia to AFP. (RELATED: Christianity In The Middle East: On The Verge Of Extinction)
The Yazidis
Photo: Asmaa Waguhi/Reuters
Yet another group battling genocide is the Yazidis. An ancient people who practice an ancient religion, Yazidis caught the public eye when thousands became trapped and were massacred by ISIS on Mount Sinjar last year. For some women like Xati Shingali, a former Yazidi music star turned militia commander, the only answer is to take up arms. Shingali received permission from the Kurdish authorities to set up her own militia of 123 Yazidi recruits to take the fight to ISIS and help protect her people.
It is called the Sun Girls, and this group is comprised of many women who lost friends and family to ISIS, and now want their revenge. Jane Fares, a 17-year-old recruit, has no fear to fight when she told the Daily Mail, “Before, I was scared, now I cannot be scared of them. Any second they tell us to fight ISIS I am ready…I hope to kill them all.”
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