Armed & Dangerous: You don't want to mess with these women

Rediff.com takes you to the front lines in war torn countries where women fighters are making a difference with their fighting skills.

A pro-Russian rebel looks on from a truck as she gets ready to take position near the Sergey Prokofiev International Airport during fighting with Ukrainian government forces in the town of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Photograph: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters

A female member of the 'Mother Aisha' battalion receives instruction as she holds a rifle during military training in Aleppo's Salaheddine district. Photograph: Loubna Mrie/Reuters

Women, who are part of the Sawt al-Haq (Voice of Rights), stand with their weapons as they undergo military training in Aleppo. Photograph: Muzaffar Salman/Reuters

A woman rebel fighter supporter shoots an AK-47 rifle as she reacts to the news of the withdrawal of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces from Benghazi in March 2011. Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters

Image: Irina, worker of a petrol station, now member of reconnaissance team of pro-Russian rebels' in the town of Makievka, eastern Ukraine. Photograph: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters

Kurdish Peshmerga female fighters take part in combat skills training before deploying to fight the Islamic State at their military camp in Sulaimaniya, northern Iraq. Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

Female volunteer government fighters attend a women's forum in Tripoli. Photograph: Louafi Larbi/Reuters

Female fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) carry their weapons as they walk in the western countryside of Ras al-Ain. Photograph: Rodi Said/Reuters

Um Jaafar, a woman fighter in the Free Syrian Army, sits with her husband Abu Jaafar, a Sawt al-Haq (Voice of Rights) battalion commander, and her daughter Faten at their home in Aleppo. Photograph: Muzaffar Salman/Reuters

Ayesha Farooq, Pakistan's only female war-ready fighter pilot, climbs up to a Chinese-made F-7PG fighter jet at Mushaf base in Sargodha, north Pakistan. Photograph: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

Members of the Palestinian security forces stand at attention and listen to their commanding officer (3rd R) at their training facility in the West Bank town of Jericho. Photograph: Eliana Aponte/Reuters

An Israeli soldier of the Caracal battalion stands next to backpacks after finishing a 20-kilometre march in Israel's Negev desert, near Kibbutz Sde Boker, marking the end of their training. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters