A battalion of female volunteers conducted military training south of Damascus, Tuesday, in order to “protect the motherland” from Syrian militants, according to one of the volunteers. The battalion known as Al-Mahavir is made up primarily of female fighters who have joined together in order to quell militant expansion in their country.

The difficulties of military acceptance was expressed by one of the volunteers who said “Eastern society doesn’t accept women with guns fighting alongside men. So we had some difficulties. However, we justified our presence and proved our ability to protect the homeland.”