Marine Olivesi Nahdia Ahmed

Female fighters from Colonel Nahida's peshmerga battalion view the front lines with ISIS.

Meet the female colonel leading Kurdish forces into battle against ISIS

Conflict

Nahida Ahmed Rashid began her military career years ago, fighting for the Kurdish separatist cause. Now she’s the highest-ranking woman in the Kurdish peshmerga and squaring off with her troops against Islamic militants who’ve taken northern Iraq by storm.

Female fighters from Colonel Nahida's peshmerga battalion view the front lines with ISIS.

Meet the female colonel leading Kurdish forces into battle against ISIS

Conflict