Iraqi Woman Forced Into Sex Slavery Kills ISIS Commander

An unidentified Iraqi woman captured by ISIS and forced into sex slavery has killed one of the commanders of the terrorist organization. Three months prior, commander Abu Amas (his nom de guerre) forced her into marriage with several of his fellow militants. According to Saeed Mamouzini, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the woman struck back on September 5, murdering Abu Amas.

News of this capture and rape follows a host of research on the ways ISIS targets women and girls as bodies to be brutalized. From the International Business Times:

“The rapes and atrocities date back at least to 2014 when the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights reported on 16 December that IS terrorists had executed 150 women, including those who were pregnant, in the country’s western province of al-Anbar, after they declined to marry them. The ministry further stated that the militants buried the women in mass graves in Fallujah.”

ISIS militants also regularly attack villages and send women and girls to slave auctions, where they may be endlessly traded at the whims of their “owners.” According to a UN envoy, “One girl was traded 22 times, with the name of the terrorist leader written on the girl’s hand to show she was his ‘property.’”

Speaking with survivors, the New York Times has explored the “theology of rape” that, according to ISIS, condones—even encourages—these atrocities. The ability to abuse women has essentially become a crucial aspect of terrorist propaganda: Oxford University has released a study detailing the ways and purposes that these militants have devoted themselves to this particular pursuit.

So far, little is known about the woman other than the fairly remarkable fact that she was capable of retaliating against her captor.