The women of an all-female Yazidi batallion is risking death - or worse - to fight back against the ISIS thugs who abducted, raped or murdered thousands of their people.

They were brought together by a renowned Yazidi s nger Xate Shingali, who formed the 'Sun Girls' batallion to take on Islamic State on the battlefield in Iraq.

If her troops are ever caught by the enemy, they will either be killed or, more likely, be held by the extremists as their personal sex slaves.

Even the youngest, just 17, brushes off that terrifying prospect, adding: 'Even if they kill me, I will say I am a Yazidi.'

ISIS kidnapped thousands of Yazidi women and very young girls when it stormed their villages in Sinjar province, northern Iraq, in August 2014.

Those who escaped from their clutches have told of how they endured unimaginable cruelty and sexual abuse at the hands of the ISIS fighters they were forced to marry.

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Revenge: The 'Sun Girls' (pictured), an all-female batallion of Yazidi women, are fighting back against the ISIS fighters who have enslaved and raped thousands of their women

Leader: The brigade's founder and commander is Xate Shingali (pictured), a renowned singer who performed traditional folklore music all over northern Iraq

Worse than death: If they are captured, these female fighters will either be killed or held by ISIS militants as their personal sex slaves

Fighters: Xate Shingali commands 123 women, whose ages range from just 17 to 30

Xate Shingali, 30, who performed traditional Yazidi folklore music all over northern Iraq, was granted special permission to form the unit by the Kurdish President.

She formed the brigade on July 2 and has since recruited 123 female fighters aged between 17 - the minimum age required to join - and 30.

Speaking from the Sharya refugee camp, just outside Dohuk, Xate said the male Kurdish fighters are training them to use AK47s.

She added: 'We have had only basic training and we need more... But we are ready to fight ISIS anytime.'

Xate's youngest recruit, Jane Fares, 17, escaped from Sinjar mountain with her brother and sister when ISIS laid siege to the entire region.

The softly spoken teenager, who has only just joined the unit, said her family is very proud of her, adding: 'My father was so happy when I had told him I had joined this union.

'All families accept us to join this union... We are happy to fight along side the peshmerga.'

In May, a Yazidi girl the same age as Jane described how she and her little sister were raped daily by a depraved jihadist before they were both sold at a 'slave auction'.

An even younger Yazidi girl known only as Bahar, 14, once told of how she was forced to undergo medical exams to 'prove' her virginity before she was sold to ISIS fighters in another twisted auction.

The terror group is widely known to keep Yazidi girls it kidnaps as sex slaves while male soldiers are executed on camera but none of this seems to worry young Jane.

Survivor: The brigade's youngest recruit, Jane Fares (right), escaped Sinjar mountain with her brother and sister when ISIS attacked last year

They are being trained to use AK47s by male Kurdish fighters and despite their enthusiasm, even commander Xeta Shingali admits they 'need more'

She said: '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.'

The young fighter is equally defiant about Islamic State's vile beheading videos, adding: 'If they kill us like that [beheading], we will kill them like that.'

Another recruit, Hadia Hassan, wants revenge for her father's cousins who is still trapped in ISIS territory and the female cousin who recently escaped the group's adopted capital in Raqqa, Syria, where it is thought to hold vile 'sex slave auctions'.

My father was so happy when I had told him I had joined this union... Before I was scared, now I cannot be scared of them. Any second they tell us to fight ISIS I am ready Jane Fares, 17, Yazidi fighter

She told MailOnline that her cousin has been psychologically scarred by the abuse she suffered while in captivity, during which time she was beaten by ISIS fighters.

Hadia, from Khana-son village, added: 'Before what happened [in August 2014], we were safe, but what I have seen happen to all the girls makes me want to fight ISIS.

Her father is already battling ISIS with the Kurdish forces and she hopes to join him on the front line soon but her sister, Hadia, who has a father already fighting with the Kurdish forces, hopes to join him soon.

She added: 'My sister wants to fight, but she is too young, 15-year-old, but my father is a peshmerga and he is fighting ISIS in Shingal.'

Hadia - like the other trainees - wants to avenge the thousands of Yazidi lives which were shattered by ISIS's rampage across northern Iraq.

'They kill, but why do that to women, why take mother's from their children?' she asked, 'They don't have any humanity.'

Prepared: Jane, like many other female fighters MailOnline spoke to, is not worried about the prospect of being captured by ISIS, saying: 'Any second they tell us to fight ISIS I am ready'

Fearless: Even the youngest fighter, Jane Fares (pictured), who is just 17-years-old, shrugged off the prospect of being beheaded by ISIS and said: 'Even if they kill me, I will say I am a Yazidi'

For Haida, and so many other Yazidis, life has been fundamentally changed by ISIS's attack on their community. She said: 'Before I wanted to be a journalist... Now I want to fight with the peshmerga.'

Islamic State fighters slaughtered more than 5,000 Yazidi people and captured up to 500 women and children as they swept across the Sinjar region.

The Yazidis, whose religion has elements of Christianity and Islam, pray to a being known as Melek Taus - which translates to 'Peacock Angel'.

The Arabs who joined ISIS betrayed us. We will not let that happen again... They are not human. We are here to avenge and to defend our land Adiba Sido, 24, deputy commander of the 'Sun Girls'

For this reason, ISIS fanatics see them as 'devil worshippers' and under the group's twisted version of Islamic law, give Yazidis the choice to convert to Islam or be killed.

In the next few months, the unit is planning to move to a more permanent base nearer to the battlefront on Sinjar mountain, but they are short of weapons.

And Xate hopes European countries will send them more 'weapons and airplanes' to help them battle ISIS.

When the terrorists attacked in August, many of those in the surrounding Arab villages joined ISIS and committed atrocities against their Yazidi neighbours - something these recruits have not forgotten.

'The Arabs who joined ISIS betrayed us. We will not let that happen again,' said 24-year-old deputy Adiba Sido, 'They are not human... We are here to avenge and to defend our land.'

Unlike in ISIS, where the men and women fighters are separated, Kurdish fighters are allowed to mix with the opposite gender on the battlefield.

'My sister is also a peshmerga…[and] we can fight like men,' Xate's 24-year-old deputy Adiba Sido, said.

Priorities: The brigade's commander Xate Shingali (left) has had to put her music career on hold and her second-in-command Adiba Sido (right) had to ditch her dreams of being a journalist after ISIS stormed their village in August 2014

Distraught: The Sun Girls want to avenge the thousands of women and girls from the Yazidi community (pictured after being freed by ISIS militants in April) have been captured and enslaved by ISIS

Madness: Their lives all changed dramatically - and for the worst - when they were forced to flee Sinjar in August last year (pictured)

Before ISIS attacked the Yazidis, Xate's number two had dreamed of becoming a teacher but 'everything changed' on August 3, and now she prefers the life of a soldier.

Even Xate has had to put her musical career on hold. She smiled as she said: 'I keep singing, but I want now to be a peshmerga [militant in Iraqi Kurdistan] as well.'

In response to ISIS's attack on the Yazidis in August last year, Xate used her contacts in the Kurdish government to ask for help.

She said: 'I sent a message to Barzani [the Kurdish President]… [And] I made this unit

'We are ready to fight anytime. Take us to Shingal... There is no human rights in Sinjar now, because of the situation.'

Xate says the group is unofficially known as the 'Sun Girls' because the Yazidis believe the sun protects them, adding: 'The sun is something holy.'

And there is a rumour in the Yazidi community that ISIS fighters are scared of being killed by a woman because they worry they will not be rewarded with '72 virgins in heaven'.