A battalion of female soldiers are fighting on the front line of the Syrian war, saying they were tempted to join their male counterparts to support their country during a time of need.
The women are stationed in the capital Damascus and are fighting in the district of Jobar, an area of heavy fighting where most buildings have been reduced to a shells.
After they have their morning breakfast to the soft tunes of Arabic love songs, the youngwomen, dressed in full army fatigues, carry their weapons and take their positions inside humvees or tanks as they make their way to the front line.
“I chose to come here because I wanted to help the army out of my own free will,” said Zainab.
“When I saw how the army is fighting and how our brothers were at war, there was a driving force for me to come and support them. It’s time for us (women) to be with them,” the teary-eyed 20-year-old added.
The all-women battalion was established in 2013 after the General Leadership of the Syrian Army decided to open the door for female volunteers.
A male field officer who refused to be identified accompanied a Reuters TV crew to the front line, where the women are fighting.
“Because of our confidence in women’s ability to work and with the desire of the general leadership of the armed forces, this role (women’s battalion) became available because of the situation Syria is experiencing at the moment, which calls for the participation of people of all ages and segments of society, including both men and women, to support Syria’s production,” he said.
He later added that the number of women stepping forward to join the battalion has been gradually increasing.
Mariana, is a 20-year-old sniper in the battalion.
“I volunteered because our country needs us now and I came to help our brothers during this crisis. Our country is not only for our men, but also for women because women became just like men during this crisis”, she said.
The Syrian military and allied militia including the Iranian-backed Hezbollah are fighting an array of insurgent groups, including both jihadists and mainstream rebels, across the country in the nearly four-year-old crisis.
More than 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which began in 2011 with protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad and has driven 3.9 million Syrians to flee their shattered homeland.
Reuters
