Female Peshmerga detachments have been fighting Daesh terrorists in the areas of Mosul, Bashi, Sinjar and Kirkuk for the last three years. Some of the women fight to avenge their sisters, others to defend their homeland. Sputnik spoke with some of these fearless warriors in an interview.

The Peshmerga detachments, formed by the Iranian Kurds from among the members of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, are actively fighting Daesh in the region’s rural areas controlled by the Kurdish Regional Administration of Iraq, in the city of Kirkuk.

Representatives of the female division of the Kurdish Peshmerga in the northwestern districts of Kirkuk spoke to Sputnik in an interview. Most of them are young women who have been in the ranks of the Peshmerga forces for several years now and are battling on the front lines along with men.

According to a 20-year-old Hebas Galat, she came to Kirkuk to fight Daesh from Iranian Kurdistan.

“I am from Iranian Kurdistan. I want to avenge the Kurds who were killed in the fight against this evil. I've been fighting in the Peshmerga ranks for two years. I fought against Daesh in the course of operations in Mosul, Leveran, Bashik and in many other places,” Galat said.

She further said that female fighters from the Peshmerga squads are fighting at the front line, but they are not afraid, on the contrary, Daesh terrorists are afraid of them.

Another female Peshmerga fighter, Kazlava Resho said, “I came here from the city of Sina, located in Iranian Kurdistan. I'm fighting on the front line to protect Kurdish women. As long as Daesh exists, no one can be safe, because this is an international terrorist organization.”

She further said that currently there are clashes with Daesh in the countryside in the Kirkuk area.

Before that she participated in the operations in Sinjar and Mosul, where she along with other women fought to liberate the areas from Daesh terrorists.

Another Peshmerga fighter representative, Weran Hesiniya, said that she joined the ranks in order to avenge the women of Sinjar who suffered greatly at the hands of the terrorists.

“Three years ago, Daesh carried out a terrible massacre in Sinjar. It committed terrible crimes against our sisters. I'm fighting against Daesh to avenge the women and children of Sinjar. During this time we managed to achieve great success in the fight against them.

She further said that during the clashes, Daesh suffered significant losses as they managed to destroy a large number of militants.

“But we do not intend to stop the fight. Women's Peshmerga troops will continue to fight and defend the Kurdish territories until Daesh is wiped off the face of the earth,” Hesiniya said.

Earlier this week, the Iraqi parliament gave a mandate to Prime Minister Haider Abadi to deploy troops in Kirkuk. The decision was made in response to the results of an independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan.

On Monday, September 25 Kurdistan held a referendum on the independence of the region. According to the official results of Kurdistan’s Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission, an overwhelming majority, or 92.7 percent of voters backed independence. The independence referendum was vehemently opposed by Baghdad as well as a number of other countries, including Iran and Turkey, which also have sizeable Kurdish minorities.