The Force of the Sun Ladies is an all-woman brigade of fighters who were formerly enslaved by ISIS during the occupation of Mosul.

The women are part of the Yazidi ethnic minority, singled out for exception brutality by ISIS after the 2014 raid on Mount Sinjar. After being liberated by Kurdish Peshmerga forces, they trained as fighters and vowed to retake Mosul and free the women still enslaved there. There are 123 fighters on the strength, with over 500 more in training. The UN estimates that ISIS still holds 3,500 hostages in Iraq, most of them Yazidi women and girls.



Captain Khider said the brigade played a support role on 13 November last year, when their hometowns were taken back from Isis occupation, engaging in direct combat and helping to clear streets. She says they know taking Mosul will be the real test – but it is one that is important to the Yazidis for more than just strategic reasons. "We have a lot of our women in Mosul being held as slaves," she said. "Their families are waiting for them. We are waiting for them. The liberation might help bring them home."

Former Isis Yazidi sex slaves take up arms for revenge, to win back Mosul and 'bring our women home'

[Adam Withnall/Independent]