UAE's first female fighter pilot Mariam Al Mansouri bombed terrorists

Maj. Mariam al-Mansouri, the first female fighter pilot in the history of the United Arab Emirates, led the the Gulf state's bombing raids over Syria this week. Photos of al-Mansouri, beaming from her cockpit, that were released by the country's state news agency have taken social media by storm.

The 35-year-old squadron commander was likely part of sorties that dropped bombs on Islamic State positions in Syria's Idlib, Aleppo and Raqqa provinces. Some reports suggest that she even spearheaded her country's mission, which complemented the parallel efforts of four other Arab states backing the U.S.: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar.

According to a profile in the National, the Abu Dhabi-born al-Mansouri harbored an ambition to join the air force since her teenage years, but had to bide her time until women were permitted to enlist. She graduated Khalifa bin Zayed Air College in 2007 and is now a veteran F-16 pilot.

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