The scourge of ISIS --a female Kurdish warrior who was credited with killing 100 jihadists-- may have herself died in the desperate battle to prevent the city of Kobani falling into extremist hands. But her sisters-in-arms fight on. The young woman, known only by the pseudonym 'Rehana', became world famous after a picture of her flashing a "V" for victory sign went viral on social media.She was part of an unusual movement in the Islamic world: A 10,000 strong, fully female and officially sanctioned militia unit dedicated to defending Kurdish territory.
They were formed in April to combat the Islamic State's extreme version of Islam which would have women locked up in their houses, only able to leave in the presence of their husbands.
It's an idea foreign to the Kurdish culture.
The battalion has a fully female chain of command. The detachment of the battalion fighting for the city of Kobane operates under its own female commander, Mayssa Abdo.
Reports suggest as many as one-in-three of Kobani's defenders is a woman. It's a struggle that has come at a heavy price.
"It's not strange that women are fighting," Wahida Kushta, an elderly Kobani woman told news organisation AP after preparing the body of a young female fighter for burial. "There is no difference between a lion and a lioness."
"I lost many friends to this, and I decided there was a need to join up," Afshin Kobani, a 28-year-old teacher now fighting on the front lines in Kobani, told AP at the weekend. "This is our land our own and if we don't do it, who else will?"
| Truly. Let the ISIS idiots fear these women of Kurdistan, who carry death as well as life in their hands. |