Umm Hanadi.
Meet the housewife who’s fighting ISIS in Iraq
A 39-year old woman known as Umm Hanadi has lately become ISIS’ least favorite lady, leading dozens of fighters into battle against the terrorist organization in the Mosul area.
She’s approaching 40, and has been married twice. Wahida Mohamed, better known as Umm Hanadi, is a mother of two and a grandmother, and she also happens to be at the top of the Islamic State’s (ISIS) most wanted list. Umm Hanadi leads a group of about 70 armed fighters in a district about 80 kilometers away from the Iraqi city of Mosul.
She and her fighters recently aided the government in pushing ISIS out of Mosul, in what she says is but one of her fights against the terrorist organization. "I began fighting the terrorists in 2004, working with Iraqi security forces and the coalition," she recently told CNN.
"I received threats from the top leadership of ISIS, including from Abu Bakr (al-Baghdadi) himself," Umm Hanadi told network correspondent Ben Wedeman, adding, “I'm at the top of their most wanted list," she brags, "even more than the Prime Minister.”
Car bombs have been placed outside her home, and she’s experienced multiple battlefield injuries, but is nonetheless motivated to go on.
Umm Hanadi. Commands dozens of combatants against ISIS.
Umm Hanadi’s first husband was killed in action. She remarried, but her second husband was murdered by ISIS fighters, who also killed her father and three of her brothers. "I fought them. I beheaded them. I cooked their heads, I burned their bodies," she proudly described her treatment of ISIS fighters. "This is all documented," she said. "You can see it on my Facebook page."
Umm Hanadi and some of her fighters.
Interestingly, Umm Hanadi still refers to herself as a housewife. She has two daughters, 20 and 22, who are reportedly ready to fight ISIS themselves, but the fierce commander, possibly showing some grandmotherly instincts, says they need to take care of their own children.
