Makhmur (Iraq) (AFP) - Tekoshin stands on a mountain in north Iraq with a rifle slung over her shoulder and a grenade tucked into her belt, facing jihadists in "a struggle to liberate women".
Women have been fighting alongside men in the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to wrest Mount Makhmur in northern Iraq back from Islamic State (IS) jihadists, whose treatment of women makes the fight especially personal for the dozens of female fighters on the mountain. IS-led militants have overrun large areas of Iraq, and the group also controls significant territory in neighbouring Syria, enacting its harshly restrictive and brutal interpretation of Islamic law in both countries.
Tekoshin, 27, says she and other women are fighting the group not only because of the threat it poses to Kurds but because it "is against women's liberation".
"They don't allow women in areas under their control to go to the market" she says. "Our struggle against (the IS) is to defend women from them and from that kind of thinking."
She also finds amusing the idea that the jihadists may have been surprised by coming face to face with women fighters. "I think (IS) were more afraid of us than of the men," she says, adding that she thinks "they believe they'll go to hell if they die at a woman's hands".
---- Let me start off by saying that what these women are doing, is so unbelievably empowering. Not only do they have an iron fist when voicing their opinions, they actually go out and fight for it. Guns to guns, bombs to bombs: you name it. I can't imagine how terrifying it would be to join such a cause at 14 (this is the age in which most women are recruited for fighting). I mean, fighting alongside a war towards liberating women was most definitely not something I ever considered and in all honesty, thought about. I cannot put into words how grateful I am for these women. (Also the men that fight towards this cause... really, anyone who fights towards this cause.)
Wow. This is bada** :P
ReplyDeleteBut in all seriousness, this is pretty brave and empowering. It's also somewhat laughable how IS members believe women are so worthless, but get paralyzed at the thought of fighting one!