0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains some strong language
0:00:05 > 0:00:07and scenes which some viewers may find disturbing.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29THEY SHOUT IN UNISON
0:00:29 > 0:00:33A battalion of Yazidi women are getting ready to fight Isis,
0:00:33 > 0:00:34and I'm going with them.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37The Yazidi girls were kept in halls, they were tortured,
0:00:37 > 0:00:39they were raped, they were abused.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42You can now see these same girls sat in the back of a truck
0:00:42 > 0:00:46with their guns, driving head-on, straight towards Isis.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50These women are survivors of the worst war crime of recent history.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Their homes have been destroyed.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59More than 3,000 of their mothers, sisters,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03aunts and nieces are still captive behind the Isis lines.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08It's time for revenge.
0:01:08 > 0:01:09Somebody has left their rifle.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14'Isis fighters need to pass this front line
0:01:14 > 0:01:16'to escape from Mosul to Syria.'
0:01:16 > 0:01:18ARTILLERY FIRES Fucking hell!
0:01:18 > 0:01:19Oh, my God!
0:01:19 > 0:01:22'They may try to take captured Yazidi women with them
0:01:22 > 0:01:24'as human shields.'
0:01:24 > 0:01:28So now we're in a situation where both sides seem to be shooting.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32'I've come to northern Iraq to tell the story of these amazing women
0:01:32 > 0:01:36'who have overcome the unthinkable to fight Isis on the front line.'
0:01:43 > 0:01:47For the next two weeks I'm going to live with a unit of Yazidi women
0:01:47 > 0:01:51as they prepare to be called to the front line to fight Isis.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55The Yazidi are peaceful people who have never gone to war before,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58but now they are having to take arms.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01One wrong turning, and we'll be in Mosul,
0:02:01 > 0:02:03that's Isis-controlled territory.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06So because of the nature of what we're going to be filming
0:02:06 > 0:02:07over the next couple of weeks,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10we've got a tracker, so every time we're in the car,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14and we're on the road, London can see where we're going.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17This is a really large city in Kurdistan,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19controlled entirely by Isis.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25There are an estimated 800,000 Yazidis in the world.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28But almost all of them live in this part of Iraq.
0:02:28 > 0:02:34Their religion is not Christian or Muslim, they worship their own gods.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Isis have performed more vicious brutality towards them
0:02:37 > 0:02:40than any other religious minority.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42STACEY CHUCKLES
0:02:42 > 0:02:46They're thinking, "Who is this strange white girl?
0:02:47 > 0:02:50"Who is this crazy British girl?"
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Captain. My boss.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Hello. How are you? Nice to meet you.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58'I'm going to stay here with the girls for one night.'
0:03:00 > 0:03:04The girls are finishing their training today.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Tomorrow we're moving to the base near the front line.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20It's the strongest four girls that do the toughest exercises.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22These girls were captured by Isis.
0:03:26 > 0:03:2917-year-old Nadia is one of them.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39How long were you kept by Isis?
0:03:45 > 0:03:47She's not really sure.
0:03:50 > 0:03:51It's very difficult.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Wow!
0:04:06 > 0:04:09You're not scared that you... you may be killed?
0:04:16 > 0:04:19"No, I will defend my country."
0:04:22 > 0:04:24'It's so shocking,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28'a 17-year-old girl saying she's ready to die to fight these people.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31'The kinds of things all these girls must have been through
0:04:31 > 0:04:33'to make them this determined.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36'It's not long before I find out from their commander
0:04:36 > 0:04:40'the sort of atrocities the Yazidis have experienced.'
0:05:39 > 0:05:40You OK?
0:05:44 > 0:05:45The emotion...
0:05:46 > 0:05:50..within that woman, and actually in the whole room...
0:05:50 > 0:05:53it was just so...moving.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56And the horror stories that these girls come out with.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02It's beyond belief.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06'That story the mother told Khatoon turned her into a soldier
0:06:06 > 0:06:09'and eventually the founder of this battalion of Yazidi women
0:06:09 > 0:06:12'being trained by the Peshmerga.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14'We're in the middle of a war zone,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17'so it's not easy to verify these horrific ordeals.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20'But I've already heard so much about the raping,
0:06:20 > 0:06:24'starving and killing of children in front of their mothers.'
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Somebody has left their rifle.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Do you know, it almost feels a bit like a summer camp?
0:06:32 > 0:06:34All the giggling.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Listening to music.
0:06:36 > 0:06:37Plaiting each other's hair.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40You can almost forget that these...
0:06:42 > 0:06:46..are women who are training to go on the front line and kill Isis.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48That... That is the reality.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50WOMEN LAUGH
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Hi.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00A mosquito... WOMEN SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Yeah, I know. I can't take...
0:07:04 > 0:07:06LAUGHTER
0:07:07 > 0:07:08'So, geared up,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12'ready to spend my first night here at their training camp.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16'Honestly, I'm... feeling quite overwhelmed.
0:07:16 > 0:07:17'I perhaps underestimated...'
0:07:19 > 0:07:22..the ruthlessness and the pure evil...
0:07:24 > 0:07:26..that seems to exist here.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29And I think what this does, is it gives you an insight into
0:07:29 > 0:07:33what life has been like for these Yazidi women.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35I really like the girls.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39I just can't wait to spend more time with them.
0:07:39 > 0:07:40Wish me luck in my bunk bed!
0:07:40 > 0:07:43I haven't slept in one in a long time.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46I'm hoping not to roll off the top in the middle of the night!
0:07:58 > 0:08:00For the girls every day starts at half five.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03THEY SING
0:08:15 > 0:08:17To leave?
0:08:17 > 0:08:19We must pack.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30So right now, this is us.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Faysh Khabur.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Basically, we need to make our way to the second training camp,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37and this is where the girls will wait
0:08:37 > 0:08:39until they're called to join the front line.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Snuny, the training camp we'll be based at.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Behind the mountain, that's the front line.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48So that's where a lot of these girls are from, the Sinjar area,
0:08:48 > 0:08:53they call it Shingal. So we must hug the Syrian border, keep west,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56we know that Isis are both here...
0:08:56 > 0:08:59and in Tal Afar.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02So we need to do a bit of a detour.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05You know, I've never been so familiar
0:09:05 > 0:09:07with another country's geography in all me life!
0:09:07 > 0:09:10So Nadia is obviously from Sinjar.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12- Shingal.- Shingal.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15So international - Sinjar, Kurdish - Shingal.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19And this is what this means, these tattoos on her arm.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21- Shingal.- Shingal.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Shin-gal.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30SHE SINGS ALONG TO SONG ON STEREO
0:09:33 > 0:09:35This song, what does it say?
0:09:39 > 0:09:43I'm so sorry to interrupt. All of this... This was bombed?
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Oh, the same as Sinjar? Shingal? The same?
0:09:50 > 0:09:51Ah, OK.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56'When Isis invaded northern Iraq in 2014, Mosul fell first,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00'and then they came here, where all these girls are from.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02'They killed up to 7,000 Yazidis.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05'The UN called it a genocide.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:07How does it make you feel, Nadia,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10when you see all of these buildings completely destroyed?
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Now you have no happiness? You feel no joy?
0:10:37 > 0:10:40Do you think you'll always feel like this?
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Or maybe in time you will be able to recover?
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Ah! This is training?
0:11:30 > 0:11:32So we're here? This is our training camp.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Well, their training camp.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40Actually, it was a high school, and Isis took over it for four months.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43But then the Peshmerga army took it back.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Phew!
0:11:48 > 0:11:52It turns out our translator, Adiba, is from a neighbouring village.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57This is her first time coming back since she fled her home in 2014.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Some of the girls were telling me that before Isis arrived
0:12:04 > 0:12:05this place was heaving.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08- It was so busy and...- Yeah, it was, yeah.- There was electricity?
0:12:08 > 0:12:10So now only one is here.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13In that time there were more than 100
0:12:13 > 0:12:16just sitting and working over there.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18When our friends were getting married
0:12:18 > 0:12:21we were coming this area to dance here.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24It's still the same smell of Shingal.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26It will never change.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Like, the sky here is different.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30The sun here is different.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Everything is different in Shingal.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35We didn't have anything, but we were so happy.
0:12:35 > 0:12:36Everyone were happy.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39We were making such a beautiful life.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42I wish, like, we gave them all Shingal,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45but just they gave us our people.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Everything can come back, but people will never come back.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52Isis believes that the Yazidis are devil worshippers,
0:12:52 > 0:12:54and think of them as spoils of war.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58But the truth is that the Yazidis have a historic religion.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02They worship an ancient god, and pray facing the sun.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03This is not the first time
0:13:03 > 0:13:07they've suffered a misunderstanding of their religion.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11They say this is the 74th genocide in their history.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14I think what I didn't take into consideration
0:13:14 > 0:13:19was how tiring it would be, being anxious all of the time.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Like, even when I'm on form, and I'm having a laugh with the girls,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26who are amazing, there's sort of this...
0:13:26 > 0:13:29niggling thought at the back of your mind.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30You know, "What was that noise?"
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Or, "Are they going to come for us?" you know.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39And I think they're rational thoughts because of where I am.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41But, you know, I'm sure I can do it for two weeks.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43These girls, this is their reality.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01During the night we all lay out mattresses right next to each other.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04I feel like the girls and I are starting to get closer,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06and they're opening up to me.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Inas is another one of the girls who was captured by Isis.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15How was your sleep last night? How did you rest?
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Ines, what was their...reasoning?
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Did they ever try and justify their behaviour?
0:15:23 > 0:15:27If you are successful, and you manage to kill one of your enemies,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30how do you think that will make you feel?
0:15:43 > 0:15:47Khatoon started this battalion by recruiting female survivors
0:15:47 > 0:15:49in the refugee camps.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53The army offered these girls an opportunity to be together
0:15:53 > 0:15:55and support each other away from the camps.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59And the chance to fight back.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02So these girls are getting ready to go home.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Camp's finished for the time being.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08I say home - actually, many of them have got no houses to go to,
0:16:08 > 0:16:09they've been blown up,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11their family members have been killed,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14some of their towns are still under the control of Isis.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Inas is lucky, in terms of her folks are still alive.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21So I'm going to tag along with her when she goes to visit them.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Ah, sister.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26How are you?
0:16:26 > 0:16:28OK? Feel good?
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Are you excited about seeing Mum and Dad?
0:16:33 > 0:16:35- Yes.- Yeah?
0:16:35 > 0:16:38How many of you girls live in a camp now?
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Wow. That's remarkable.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50- So you have everything? We are ready to go?- Yes.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Just this? OK, you take your hat.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54I'll help you with your bag.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Let's go.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05So this is Hanke Camp,
0:17:05 > 0:17:09and a lot of the families that have fled conflict are now living here.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13It's estimated that just under half a million Yazidis are now displaced.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Hello. How are you?
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Nice to meet you. Hello, sir, how do you do?
0:17:26 > 0:17:28You OK? Hello.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30- Ah, how are you?- I'm good, thanks.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Your English is brilliant.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34My Kurdish, not so good!
0:17:36 > 0:17:40'Inas' ten family members live in this small space.'
0:17:41 > 0:17:42Hello.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Hi. How are you?
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Aww! A siesta!
0:17:48 > 0:17:49- I can sit here?- Yes.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52'This family will never forget the day when they had to flee
0:17:52 > 0:17:53'their home in Sinjar.'
0:18:25 > 0:18:30So when Isis attacked... your area, were you all together?
0:18:30 > 0:18:32Collectively as a family?
0:19:45 > 0:19:48And please may you tell me
0:19:48 > 0:19:50what your life was like before you came here?
0:20:18 > 0:20:21So these pictures were taken just a few years ago?
0:20:24 > 0:20:28How does it make you feel knowing that your daughter is potentially
0:20:28 > 0:20:31going onto the front line to try and kill the enemy?
0:20:51 > 0:20:55I'm so impressed that a 17-year-old girl had the nerve
0:20:55 > 0:20:59to stand up to an Isis fighter with a sword to save her dad.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03What everyone here is telling me is that Isis
0:21:03 > 0:21:07killed all the men they captured and raped any women they wanted.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10I believe Inas now when she says she's not scared
0:21:10 > 0:21:14of going to the front line to avenge her sister's death.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19It's not just revenge that Inas is after,
0:21:19 > 0:21:24she also wants to fight to free the 3,000 women who are still captive.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Isis took these women to use them as sex slaves.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31We've heard numerous anonymous accounts
0:21:31 > 0:21:34in terms of what these girls have had to endure,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37but by being on the ground it has become apparent that
0:21:37 > 0:21:40there's almost this obsession with honour.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43And, unbelievably, the girls are the ones who often feel the shame.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46So they're hesitant to come forward and speak.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49But Inas has a relative who does want to have a chat.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Can you tell me about the day that Isis arrived in your village?
0:22:24 > 0:22:29And the raping and the torture and the selling,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32this was something that was happening on a daily basis,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34for you and the rest of the girls?
0:24:08 > 0:24:11This young woman has survived being raped and beaten
0:24:11 > 0:24:13by numerous men for over a year.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17To accept that this is still happening to so many women right now
0:24:17 > 0:24:19breaks your heart.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Few Yazidi women seem willing to speak so candidly
0:24:23 > 0:24:26about the extreme horrors they've encountered.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Just to keep yourself and your family together in a refugee camp
0:24:33 > 0:24:36like this place is an uphill struggle every day.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41I can understand when the girls tell me they feel happier when they're
0:24:41 > 0:24:45back with their friends at their base near the front line in Snuny.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51So we are just about to go to bed.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56And I'm still inside the high school, because actually,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59we're not allowed to take our phones up on the roof because it's...
0:24:59 > 0:25:02we're so close to the mountain,
0:25:02 > 0:25:04and the enemy for them are just beyond that,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06so they could see the light from the screen,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10which was something I hadn't even thought about. Erm...
0:25:11 > 0:25:15Tonight I'm feeling quite apprehensive,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19because I know that either tomorrow or the following day
0:25:19 > 0:25:21I'm going to have to go to Sinjar.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Sinjar, we are incredibly close to the front line.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Bedtime?
0:25:29 > 0:25:32WOMEN TALK IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:25:33 > 0:25:35We must go to bed.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39- Yes, she say, "Go to sleep." - Exercise...
0:25:39 > 0:25:41"Because tomorrow you will wake up early."
0:25:41 > 0:25:44- Exercise?- Exercise, yes. - Exercise, 6am.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47- Yes.- Wish me luck.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03Haven't got a sports bra on!
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Due to the trauma these girls experienced before joining the army,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10some of them were fainting when they first started training.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15When I see them now, I can't quite believe their transformation.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34You wish you could have defended yourself?
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Is there an element of shame on the Isis soldier
0:27:10 > 0:27:14if he's killed by a woman, given how they view women?
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Everything Isis do, everything they stand for,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32it's so they can justify their place in heaven.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35That's the ultimate goal in their mind.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38So the fact that they believe that would not happen
0:27:38 > 0:27:41were they killed by a female, it's huge.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45WOMEN SPEAK IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:27:45 > 0:27:48STACEY SINGS SONG FROM MINIBUS
0:27:48 > 0:27:51'Since I've been here, the girls and I have been trying to keep
0:27:51 > 0:27:55'a sense of normality by having fun like normal young women.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00'One is showing me some pictures.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03'Life before Isis feels unrecognisable.'
0:28:03 > 0:28:05You look nice there.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07I like your...hair.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Oh, my goodness.
0:28:11 > 0:28:12Look at you!
0:28:28 > 0:28:31- My brother. - God, you look like your brother.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Were any of your relatives taken?
0:28:47 > 0:28:49From the mountain?
0:28:57 > 0:28:59Mosul and Tal Afar.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Did they tell your dad what they'd been through?
0:29:33 > 0:29:37'The girls are all too familiar with how these accounts can end.'
0:29:37 > 0:29:39WOMAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:29:44 > 0:29:46You OK?
0:29:59 > 0:30:04It's OK. You just say whatever you feel comfy saying.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54'For some of them this is enough.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57'They can't bear to hear what happens next.'
0:30:58 > 0:31:00Will you explain?
0:31:19 > 0:31:24It's just very evident, isn't it, how broken-hearted they all are?
0:31:27 > 0:31:31And it's so... It's such a fine balance.
0:31:31 > 0:31:32It's such a difficult...
0:31:35 > 0:31:36..subject to broach,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38because it's important that these stories are heard,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41because these girls have been silenced for a couple of years.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45And why shouldn't people know what they've been through?
0:31:47 > 0:31:48And they say to me,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52"We want to talk, we want to tell you what we've been through."
0:31:55 > 0:31:58So when you're talking to them and you've got young girls
0:31:58 > 0:32:01sobbing so much that they've got to run out of the room,
0:32:01 > 0:32:02it's time to stop, but...
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Even though Isis has killed, raped and tortured thousands of Yazidis
0:32:12 > 0:32:15there's been very little action to help them.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17They're on their own.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Before Isis, almost all of these women had a life that feels
0:32:38 > 0:32:42a million miles away from being part of this dedicated military.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Someone told me you used to be a megastar.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Megastar!
0:32:50 > 0:32:53So Khatoon, before she joined the military,
0:32:53 > 0:32:55was actually a really well-known singer.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20When will you start singing again, Khatoon?
0:33:33 > 0:33:34'A day doesn't go by here
0:33:34 > 0:33:38'without thinking about the women who are still held captive.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41'Tomorrow these girls are going to fight for their loved ones
0:33:41 > 0:33:44'on the other side of Sinjar Mountain.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48'Everybody seems so calm this evening, but I'm terrified.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51'Since I got here I've been looking at this mountain,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55'where the Yazidis went to escape from Isis in 2014.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58'But it became a deathtrap.'
0:33:58 > 0:34:01When you hear the accounts of what happened up there, the suffering,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04the 50,000 people stuck up this mountain.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06People were so desperate, and they were starving,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08they were throwing themselves off.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11You know, babies were being laid to the side,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14elderly people were being left at the bottom.
0:34:16 > 0:34:17Thousands died.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25Khatoon was one of the 50,000 people stuck up the mountain.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31These girls clearly take pride in looking their best,
0:35:31 > 0:35:33especially when they're preparing to fight.
0:35:35 > 0:35:36They seem to stand for everything
0:35:36 > 0:35:39that Isis are desperate to deny women.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49So, the plan today is that the girls are going to go and support the men,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52who are obviously slightly further towards the front line.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55Obviously, I'm feeling slightly apprehensive, I mean,
0:35:55 > 0:35:57we're going to a live front line.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59Where Isis are on the other side.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02You know, I've never been anywhere like this in my life before.
0:36:02 > 0:36:03Erm...
0:36:05 > 0:36:06But the decision's been made,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09and...the girls have been so accommodating,
0:36:09 > 0:36:13so it's good to see what their lives are like when they're on the ground.
0:36:18 > 0:36:19Off we go.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25Off we go.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32So right now, we're driving directly into the mountain.
0:36:33 > 0:36:34I've got to say,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37there's a completely different atmosphere amongst the girls today.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40You know, pain isn't...
0:36:40 > 0:36:44the obvious emotion, there's this determination,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46this strength, this optimism.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48They were tortured, they were raped, they were abused.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52Now see these same girls sat in the back of a truck with their guns
0:36:52 > 0:36:55instead of running in the opposite direction,
0:36:55 > 0:36:59they're driving head-on, straight towards Isis.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05'These girls were trapped up this mountain in 50-degrees heat,
0:37:05 > 0:37:08'no food, no water, Isis shooting at them
0:37:08 > 0:37:10'and they survived.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13'No wonder they don't feel fear any more.'
0:37:13 > 0:37:15How long were you stuck here for?
0:37:17 > 0:37:20Explain to me how it feels driving through this mountain,
0:37:20 > 0:37:23when two years ago you were stuck up it trying to fight for your life.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27- So happy.- Happiness?- Yeah.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34I hope we're not. I'd have put a dress on.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44'There are so many burnt-out cars by the side of the road.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48'They were all desperately trying to escape from Isis when they crashed.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53'After crossing the mountain we get to Sinjar,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56'a city that Khatoon knew very well.'
0:37:56 > 0:37:58I've travelled the world for, like, the past decade,
0:37:58 > 0:38:03I've never seen such devastation, such destruction.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25There's still Isis flags. On some of the walls,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27you can still see the Isis stamps.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53I see Khatoon fighting her tears, and I feel her pain too.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57So many of the girls I've met are from this town,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00like Inas and her family back in the refugee camp.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02One of these houses was their home.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12Just a short distance from Sinjar we arrive at the front line.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16The girls are very quick to take their positions.
0:39:16 > 0:39:17I'm not quite so fast,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20still trying to get to grips with where I am.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24There is a possibility at any moment to be...
0:39:25 > 0:39:28'A member of our team is getting a security update
0:39:28 > 0:39:30'from the front-line commander.'
0:39:30 > 0:39:32So what's the situation with the bombs?
0:39:32 > 0:39:35The situation is not totally safe.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37There was a mortar shelling.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42During this week more than 50 mortars has fallen at this front.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46- OK.- And there is a possibility for that at any moment.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49- OK.- At any moment you should expect a mortar falling.
0:39:49 > 0:39:50OK.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54Behind the trench, on the other side, there was movement.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58A vehicle and a motorcycle, usually they...
0:39:58 > 0:40:01take those mortars with motorcycles and vehicles.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05Two mortars today has fallen at the next...point.
0:40:05 > 0:40:06MAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:40:06 > 0:40:11- Just now. A few minutes ago.- The mortar just fell a few minutes ago?
0:40:11 > 0:40:14- Yeah, in that position, next to this one.- OK. Well...
0:40:14 > 0:40:16MAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:40:16 > 0:40:19- It is like 1km away from here.- OK.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23OK, so we don't need to spend a huge amount of time here.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37How do you hope the girls will be able to facilitate you?
0:40:37 > 0:40:41They now have this army, they have this group, they've come to you.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20They were shelling mortars just this morning, it fell about 1km away.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22How do you feel about that?
0:41:22 > 0:41:26ARTILLERY FIRES Fucking hell! Oh, my God!
0:41:26 > 0:41:27It's OK.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29THEY are shooting.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Fucking hell, you have to tell me when you're going to do that!
0:41:32 > 0:41:33Christ!
0:41:33 > 0:41:35ARTILLERY FIRES
0:41:42 > 0:41:45ARTILLERY CONTINUES FIRING Fucking hell.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54So that firing you hear, that's from the Peshmerga.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58But there was no warning. I didn't realise that they were shooting.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03So I thought it was them coming for us. Erm...
0:42:03 > 0:42:04We are so, so close.
0:42:04 > 0:42:09I mean, you speak to the... the guys, it becomes apparent that
0:42:09 > 0:42:12they only really see the Isis fighters
0:42:12 > 0:42:14when they're 500 or 600 metres away.
0:42:17 > 0:42:18GUNFIRE IN DISTANCE That's from them.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20That's coming from them.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26So now we're in a situation where both sides seem to be shooting,
0:42:26 > 0:42:30I think we're going to have to get out of here quite quickly. GUNFIRE
0:42:30 > 0:42:35Less than a month after I was here, the battle to liberate Mosul began
0:42:35 > 0:42:37and these women are now part of the Peshmerga army
0:42:37 > 0:42:39fighting on the front line.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43If Isis are forced out of Mosul they could attempt to escape to Syria
0:42:43 > 0:42:45through the Sinjar front line.
0:42:45 > 0:42:50But what will happen to the 3,000 Yazidi women and children
0:42:50 > 0:42:51still held captive?
0:42:51 > 0:42:53These innocent people,
0:42:53 > 0:42:56who have endured daily torture for over two years,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00could now become human shields to protect the Isis fighters
0:43:00 > 0:43:02as they pass Sinjar.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05These women fighting are ready to risk their lives
0:43:05 > 0:43:06to rescue their loved ones.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10The hope to be reunited with them again is the driving force
0:43:10 > 0:43:13to overcome the unthinkable and fight till the end.
0:43:15 > 0:43:16One of the girls...
0:43:17 > 0:43:20..she gave me...Nadia, she gave me this picture.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22They've been giving me gifts.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27And she's given me this, so I never forget her.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30As if I will, but isn't that sweet?
0:43:33 > 0:43:35One of the other girls gave me, like, this purple lippy.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'd probably never wear it.
0:43:39 > 0:43:40SHE CHUCKLES
0:43:40 > 0:43:42Erm...
0:43:42 > 0:43:43But, yeah.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48It's been one of the most...
0:43:50 > 0:43:54..unbelievable, eye-opening, sobering trips I've ever done.