Syrian conflict: Bashar al-Assad's female fighters, in pictures

The battalion was established in the summer of 2014 and consists of around 800 female volunteer fighters to work alongside the Syrian Army in its battle against opposition forces. A member of the Female Commando Battalion wears her headgear in the government-controlled area of Jobar, a suburb of Damascus. In 2013, after allowing the recruitment of women to the army, President al-Assad recruited the first brigade of women, named “Lionesses for National Defence” to man checkpoints and carry out security operations as part of the National Defence Force (NDF).

A member of the battalion aims her weapon as a fellow fighter looks out behind sandbags on the frontline in Jobar.

In October 2014, Syria's General Mobilization Administration banned men born between 1985 and 1991 from leaving the country, in a move to prevent draft dodging. Syrian female fighters take position by the demarcation lines in East Ghouta. It has been estimated that more than 210,000 people have been killed in Syria since an anti-government uprising that began with peaceful demonstrations in March 2011. The conflict has since become a complex multi-front war that has attracted thousands of foreign fighters to jihadist organisations such as the so-called Islamic State. A fighter loads a weapon at the frontline in the government-controlled area of Jobar. Syrian fighters, part of the Female Commando Battalion, walk towards a building before taking position at the demarcation lines in East Ghouta, outside Damascus. A Syrian Army fighter takes position at the demarcation line in East Ghouta Members of the battalion sit on top of a tank in Jobar Members of the all-female battalion eat during a break in the government-controlled area of Jobar A Syrian Army member covers her ears as a fellow fighter takes position behind sandbags and aims her weapon at the frontline in the government-controlled area of Jobar Members of the Female Commando Battalion carry their weapons and supplies as they get into an armoured carrier in Jobar A member of a Female Commando Battalion carries an RPG as she walks with Syrian Army members inside a building in Jobar A female fighter in action in Jobar Members of the Female Commando Battalion, which is part of the Bashar al-Assad's Syrian Army, sit on top of a tank in the government-controlled area of Jobar, a suburb of Damascus.