In Focus
Nugeen smiles. Aged 45, she is a Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) fighter. Perhaps she is confident that her enemy, the bloodcurdling Islamic State, is scared of her. One female PKK soldier said this week: “The jihadists don’t like fighting women, because if they’re killed by a female, they think they won’t go to heaven.” This claim is disputed. Shiraz Maher, senior fellow King’s College, London, says that Islamic State devotees are told they will be martyred if they die in battle, regardless of who killed them
Launch Slideshow 8 PHOTOS