Kurdish women stand against ISIS (47 Pics)

To an ISIS militant, one of the worst things that could transpire in combat is not just being killed, but being killed by a woman. If this happens, ISIS members believe that they will go directly to hell. If hell exists, rest assured that they have been sent there by a number of Kurdish women.

In August 2014, ISIS moved to the Sinjar area of Iraq and began to persecute, capture and kill its minority Yazidi population–an ancient, mainly Kurdish people. Female Kurdish soldiers were instrumental in the Kurdish counteroffensive, rescuing thousands of Yazidis trapped by ISIS on Mount Sinjar. The women have since extended their fight against radical militants to Kobani, Syria.

16 year-old YPJ fighter Barkhodan Kochar from Darbasi, Syria. "The war influenced me a lot. Before joining YPJ, whenever I asked my family about politics, they'd say 'that's not your business, you're just a girl'. But when I saw how the women of YPJ gave their lives for what they believed in, I knew that I wanted to be one of them."

18 year-old Saria Zilan from Amuda, Syria: "I fought with ISIS in Serikani. I captured one of them and wanted to kill him, but my comrades did not let me. He kept staring at the ground and would not look at me, because he said it was forbidden by his religion to look at a woman."

Female soldiers show signs of peace as trucks carrying refugees from Mount Sinjar enter Til Kocer, Syria, safely.

18-year-old YPJ fighter Torin Khairegi: “We live in a world where women are dominated by men. We are here to take control of our future..I injured an ISIS jihadi in Kobane. When he was wounded, all his friends left him behind and ran away. Later I went there and buried his body. I now feel that I am very powerful and can defend my home, my friends, my country, and myself. Many of us have been matryred and I see no path other than the continuation of their path."

20-year-old Narlene wraps a scarf around her face near Raabia, Syria.

Instructing soldiers.

20-year old YPJ fighter Aijan Denis from Amuda, Syria: "Where I am now, men and women are equal and we all have the same thought, which is fighting for our ideology and the rights of women. My three sisters and I are all in YPJ. " Newsha Tavakolian for TIME I joined YPJ in 2011. One day when I was watching TV, they were showing pictures of women who had been killed. I decided to join the army myself. Where I am now, men and women are equal and we all have the same thought, which is fighting for our ideology and the rights of women. My three sisters and I are all in YPJ. They all operate RPGs. I wish to become so skilled that I will be allowed to do the same."

Women in the Peshmerga undergo drill instruction at the Sulaymaniyah base.

Women at the Sulaymaniyah base.

Female Peshmerga train via mock assaults.

Female soldiers look to smoke coming from an ISIS car bomb detonation.

Young recruits take part in near dawn drill in Rojava, a Kurdish area of Syria. Typically, female soldiers rise at 4am after six hours of sleep. Before joining, many of these women had never participated in sports.

Women in dawn drills near Derek City, Syria.

Female soldier waits for a drone to return to the PKK base in Sinjar. The drone had gone to check enemy positions near a site previously hit by ISIS car bombs.

Female fighter discussing how to gain access to space hit by ISIS car bombs in Sinjar.

Other soldiers prepare to enter ISIS-hit territory.

A female soldier takes notes at a checkpoint near the Sinjar base.

Woman totes a portrait of Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan at the Sinjar base. Ocalan was one of the founding members of the Kurdish Workers Party, which is listed as a terrorist organization by NATO, the United States and the European Union, among others.

A female soldier adjusts her machine gun as she prepares to join others near a spot hit by ISIS car bombs.

29-year-old Nuhad Kocer sits at a military base in Til Kocer, Syria. The person in the framed photo is Azadi Ristem, a soldier killed by a sniper from the al-Nusra Front.

Female soldiers sit in an armed vehicle at their base in eastern Syria.

A female fighter stands guard at a PKK base on Mount Sinjar, northwest Iraq.

Female Peshmerga dons a pink featuring Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is Kurdish.

In Kurdish Rovaja, Syria, young people are taught the ideology of the PYD (the Democratic Union Party of Syria), an affiliate of PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). Many will be drafted to fight ISIS.

A young recruit wears pink on the first day of her training in Derek City, Syria.

Female fighters pose with visiting fighters from another base.

Recruits dance at a base near Derek City, Syria.

Recruits embrace a female soldier who they thought had been sent to the front line.

Recruits in Derek City, Syria do each other's hair at 4:30am, before training.

Leader Haval Raperin combs her hair at a Sinjar base.

22-year-old Asadi Kamishloo has her eyebrows plucked at a base in Til Kocer, Syria.

Female fighters eat peppers, tomatoes, cheese and flatbread for breakfast in Til Kocer, Syria.

Female Peshmergas chat around a heater.

Female Peshmergas pose next to a displaced Yazidi woman (far right) who lives near their base in Sinjar. At least 5,000 Yazidis have been massacred in ISIS' genocidal campaign against them.

Female Peshmergas sit with a Yazidi family, one of which is a member of YBS, a Yazidi militant group fighting against ISIS.

Female fighter Jin bonds with her mother, Amina, at home in Girke Lege, Syria.

Women eat yaprax, a Kurdish favorite.

Female soldier Shavin Bachouck rests at an abandoned Iraqi Army post near Raabia, Syria.

Women gather at the all-women Asayesh Security Base in Derek City, Syria.

17 year-old Cicek Derek, died in Kobani, Syria.

Cicek Derek's sister, Rojin, had this to say: "When my mother told Cicek, please stay with your mother', she answered 'I left to fight for all the mothers of the world. I cannot stay here."

Fallen female soldiers appear on a billboard which reads, “With you we live on and life continues.”

Female soldiers carry the casket of Evrim in Derek City, Syria. Evrim was killed while combatting ISIS members.

Female fighters killed fighting ISIS are buried together.

Female Peshmerga bond in a pickup truck.

Thousands of Kurdish women have taken up arms to defend their people from the Assad regime, ISIS and the al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda branch operating in Syria and Lebanon.