Revolutionary Kurdish Feminist Takes on Islamic State Group

By teleSUR

30 May 16

Rojda Felat is the joint commander of an offensive by Kurdish and Syrian rebels on the city of Raqqa.

female Kurdish commander, who says that she is inspired by women who have given their lives in the fight against the Islamic State group, is leading the Syrian Democratic Forces, a report by the Time reported.

Co-commander of the SDF, Rojda Felat, is leading 15,000 Kurdish and Arab fighters, who receive training and support from the U.S.-led coalition.

"My main goal is liberating the Kurdish women and the Syrian women in general from the ties and control of traditional society, as well as liberating the entirety of Syria from terrorism and tyranny," she is quoted as saying in a Times report.

Female fighters are a key part of the offensive against Islamic State group and there are understood to be more than 10,000 women fighting in both all-female and mixed Kurdish battalions.

“My strong beliefs and honest goals help me overcome any obstacles or challenges. The state of weakness that the woman in Rojava [a Kurdish-held territory] and Syria had experienced has gone now. We are not weak anymore. Women are playing a vital role in leading and managing the society,” Felat told the Times.

More than 50,000 fighters from Syria’s Kurdish People's Protection Units and the SDF, launched a major offensive on Raqqa earlier this week.

The Islamic State group declared Raqqa the capital of its caliphate on June, 29, 2014. Raqqa is located on the north bank of the Euphrates River, some 100 miles east of Aleppo.