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A London director who dodged sniper fire while filming female Kurdish troops taking on Islamic State has told how they are fighting for a more equal society.

Marta Shaw gained unprecedented access to YPJ (Kurdish Women’s Protection Units) fighters on the front line in Syria and northern Iraq.

The director told how the fighters are feared by IS and respected by their male colleagues both on and off the battlefield. “They were just ordinary women, but the war has brought out extraordinary courage. We met a female commander, who is also a school teacher, and commands a battalion of men and women.

“It’s not just on the front line, either. Women are taking an active role in the new mini-state, which has come into being. At the assembly, men and women sit together with the women making decisions along with the men.

“The Kurds believe in equality and that’s reflected in their society. It’s what they’re fighting for and they’re optimistic they will defeat IS and bring about a wider social change.” Ms Shaw worked with actor and investigative reporter Ross Kemp on the latest instalment of his Bafta-winning documentary series. Ross Kemp: The Fight Against ISIS is to be shown on Sky 1 on Thursday at 9pm.

The director had been to war zones previously, and even to Syria in 2013, but said it was the first time she had been on the front line and not embedded with an army.

Ms Shaw added: “The Kurds are the biggest allies in the fight against IS and they’re actively taking the fight to them. They were keen to show what they’re doing in one of the most hostile places and they think they’re not getting the international attention they should be.

“We were with them when they crossed the Euphrates into Arab territory to take on IS. They were fighting village to village and we came under sniper fire. It did get pretty hairy. Any concerns I had about being the only woman in a group of men looked idiotic when I saw the women fighting on the front line.”