Main content
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640x360/p0h5t6y0.jpg)
Woman on Frontline Against Al Shabaab
Iman Elman is one of few women in the Somali National Army
Iman Elman is a captain in the Somali National Army leading a team of soldiers liberating towns and villages from the control of the Islamist militant group Al Shabaab. The 24-year-old is unusual as women make up only 7 percent of Somalia's military and very few of them go into combat. Her father Elman Ali Ahmed was a peace activist whose motto was "put down the gun, pick up a pen". She told Matthew Bannister why she decided to join the army.
Podcast
-
Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected. Extraordinary personal stories