Women are playing an increasingly important role in the insurgency — and security forces are not prepared.
Islamic State propaganda over the past few years has hinted at and laid the groundwork for this change: In October 2017, the movement’s newspaper called on women to prepare for battle; by early last year, the group was openly praising its female fighters in a video that showed a woman wielding an AK-47, the narration describing “the chaste mujahed woman journeying to her Lord with the garments of purity and faith, seeking revenge for her religion and for the honor of her sisters.”
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/opinion/islamic-state-female-fighters.html
