One of the images of fighters captured by Anastasia Taylor-Lind

Anastasia Taylor-Lind, 23, a student at the University of Wales College Newport , took on the dangerous challenge after learning about a small band of Kurdish fighters called the Peshmerga Force for Women.

She was fascinated to hear about the female guerrillas who have been fighting to maintain the Kurdish autonomous zone since 1992 and plans to use the images for her graduation exhibition at the college in May.

She spent a month travelling through the mountains of northern Iraq with an interpreter, bodyguards - and a kalashnikov rifle.

"The women's unit was formed in 1996," said Anastasia.

"Many joined the Peshmerga through an inconsolable hate for Saddam Hussein's regime and a need for revenge after their menfolk were tortured and murdered in the prison camp at Sulaimaniyah.

"A funfair is now built on that site and parks cover the mass graves - I was taken for a picnic there on my first night in the city."

A US helicopter patrols the skies above the Peshmerga camp

Anastasia said that despite feeling very nervous of travelling to Iraq alone, she was welcomed by the women whose lives she wanted to record.

"The Peshmerga women treated me as one of their own," she said.

"We slept on the ground next to the road, with kalashnikovs by our side."

She said that despite the first Iraq war ending more than a decade ago, the battle scars on buildings served as a bitter reminder.

"Bullet holes riddle many buildings, Saddam' s bunkers litter every mountain peak and the earth conceals 20 million land mines.

"In a deeply Muslim country, the women's fight to prove their equality to men and show their worth as soldiers has been a tough one.

"As a minority among the some 25,000-strong Peshmerga rebels they have earned respect and built a reputation for bravery and skill in the battlefield," she added.

Anastasia had to carry a alashnikov rifle in Iraq

Her self-funded trip to Iraq has encouraged Anastasia to persevere with a photography career.

"I like to think that history is something that happens every day, and I want to be able to document and record it.

"My next project will be about the illegal immigrants from Africa who enter Europe via Spain.

"The women wrongly believe if they give birth on European soil they will not be sent back.

"I will be taking photos of life at the refuge for pregnant women. It will make for a very emotional subject."