• Kurdish fighters from YPG and YPJ on the front line as their forces push back ISIL. They have pledged to keep pushing back ISIL and capture Raqqa with the air support and disparate Arab rebel units.
    Kurdish fighters from YPG and YPJ on the front line as their forces push back ISIL. They have pledged to keep pushing back ISIL and capture Raqqa with the air support and disparate Arab rebel units.
  • Hezel, a young YPJ fighter who says she prefers a life of war and hardship to the strictures of Syria’s conservative society. ‘At the front I am free, in society I wasn’t,’ she tells The National.
    Hezel, a young YPJ fighter who says she prefers a life of war and hardship to the strictures of Syria’s conservative society. ‘At the front I am free, in society I wasn’t,’ she tells The National.
  • Gender equality on the Kurdish frontlines in Syria is real, as men and women in combat fatigues sit together chatting and sharing jokes.
    Gender equality on the Kurdish frontlines in Syria is real, as men and women in combat fatigues sit together chatting and sharing jokes.
  • Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) at Skero.
    Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) at Skero.
  • The road to Raqqa, seen from the Kurdish frontline position at the village of Skero. Kurdish forces are preparing to liberate Raqqa and Jarabulus, as thousands of fighters are being readied for the offensive.
    The road to Raqqa, seen from the Kurdish frontline position at the village of Skero. Kurdish forces are preparing to liberate Raqqa and Jarabulus, as thousands of fighters are being readied for the offensive.
  • An abandoned village in front of the Kurdish defences, often used by ISIL to stage attacks on the position.
    An abandoned village in front of the Kurdish defences, often used by ISIL to stage attacks on the position.
  • YPG fighters behind the berm that shields them from enemy fire.
    YPG fighters behind the berm that shields them from enemy fire.
  • A female fighter keeps a watchful eye on the enemy.
    A female fighter keeps a watchful eye on the enemy.

World

Kurdish women on the battle front with ISIL in Syria - in pictures

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The female fighters of Rojava – a Kurdish-controlled autonomous region in north Syria – inspired by the ideology of Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), have broken with the region’s social norms to fight on equal terms alongside the men. All photos by Florian Neuhof for The National

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