Last February, soon after the Islamic State Group, also know as ISIS or ISIL, raided the Christian villages around Tel Tamer, Syria, it was clear to Seeham that it would be up to the women to lead the charge to take back their community.
"The men ran away, and many of us women were deported and enslaved...we felt so defenceless," said Seeham, the charismatic commander of a Syrian female militia. Seeham is her combat name, and for the past seven months, she has been preparing her unit of women to fight ISIS.
Women suffer disproportionally at the hands of ISIS fighters: many have been forced into sexual slavery by the group when their communities have been overrun. Women and girls who have escaped have recounted stories of horrific abuse. So some have decided to fight back. Seeham said she has already sent some of her sisters in arms off to the front.
"I founded this female unit so that we can defend ourselves and our children the next time around. What we want is to protect our territories, to prevent a second Mosul, a second Sinjar or Tel Tamer, from happening," she added, listing cities in Iraq and Syria that had been taken over by ISIS.
Organising her fighters’ recruitment and instruction from the female unit’s headquarters in Hasaka, she uses a camp near Qamishli to train like-minded women. Her unit, affiliated with the Christian Sutoro militia, consists of 45 Catholic, Orthodox, and Aramean fighters. The Sutoro militia, in turn, is part of a new coalition called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a multi-part alliance supported not only by Christians and Kurds, but also by Arab forces.
In the battle against ISIS, female fighters have a strategic advantage: ISIS fighters believe that being killed by a woman will deny them access to paradise and their status as a martyr, as multiple reports have noted.
Ahead, the brave women who are taking on ISIS share their stories with Refinery29.
In Hasaka, women fighters under Seeham’s command man checkpoints in the city centre set up by the Christian Sutoro units. "We function as police and military at the same time. It depends on what is needed in a given situation," Seeham said.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
Seeham said that some Arab men resent having their IDs checked by Christian women, such as her 18-year-old daughter.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
Seeham, in the background, and her daughter search a taxi. Seeham has four more children. “My husband and I coordinate so that we can manage home, family, and combat together," she said. This, she adds, is also the greatest challenge in assembling her unit. For most women, organising home and family in a way which leaves time for fighting is a near-impossible task.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
A militia member searches a minibus for explosives. The Islamic State holds positions about 15 miles south of Hasaka.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
The fear of an attack constantly hovers over the checkpoint. But scenes of warm greetings are not infrequent, while the tension between Arabs and Christians can also be felt in the same situation.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
Seeham, the commander of the female section of the Christian Sutoro militia, stands at a checkpoint in the Syrian city of Hasaka.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
Athra, an 18-year-old Aramean woman, clutches her AK-47 and announces that she sees herself as independent of both the Sutoro militia and Seeham. Her unit is called the Bethnahrin Women Protecting Forces, she said. It is not dependent on any particular person or alliance.
The very same fighters who were seen a few days ago in Seeham’s headquarters are training here today. It is hard to keep on top of things in Syria. Alliances and coalitions change as fast as the front line does. "We do not comment on our troop strength, nor on our stance towards [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad]," Athra said.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
About 50 miles north, near Qamishli, a dozen fighters train for deployment at the front. Men are nowhere to be seen in the camp — women are trained by women. Aside from regular drills, military tactics are also taught at the camp’s own academy. A soccer field, also part of the facilities, is used by the women during their free time. They live, cook, train, and sleep on the grounds.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
Athra leads a unit made up of women of different ages in a drill on the grounds. "We looked at the Kurdish people, who have women and men fighting, and we asked ourselves: Why don’t we?" Athra explains. Whether it is through the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), People's Protection Units (YPG) or the Peshmerga, women have always been part and parcel of Kurdish combat units. "Whoever tries to kill us,” Athra added, "we kill them first."
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
Female fighters belonging to the Bethnahrin Women Protecting Forces train at the militia's training centre near Qamishli, Syria. The Aramaean women's unit is fighting ISIS.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
On the drill grounds, Athra yells her commands in Aramaic, which is said to be the language of Jesus and is no longer widely spoken. "We Arameans, and especially we women, have been suppressed in the Orient for centuries," she later explained. "With our unit, we aim to show people that we can handle a gun; we want recognition. If it is necessary, we will put our lives on the line for our homeland and our people."
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
Female fighters from the Bethnahrin Women Protecting Forces perform drills with their weapons at their base near Qamishli, Syria.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
Back in Hasaka, Seeham shares words of encouragement with one of her fighters. As Seeham explains, her unit is active at the Tishrin Dam front, in northwestern Syria, as well as in Al Hawl, near the Iraqi border. As the second largest unit after the Kurds within the SDF coalition, they are able to defend positions at the front on their own, she said.
Photographed by Sebastian Backhaus.
In Hasaka, it is time for the women to part. Tears are shed. The scene is heartbreaking. This is the way to the front. The instructors say goodbye to their recruits, among them two young women who had, in the training camp, stressed their independence from Seeham and her unit.
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