in military clothing alongside weapons were heavily circulated in Iraq and eventually reached Europe, where they gave a romanticized image of the Kurdish cause. Soon she became known in the west as the "Joan of Arc of the Kurdish Revolution". Shello's propaganda power might have made her a higher priority target than the leader of the Kurdish movement, Mustafa Barzani. Though she never joined any other movement outright, Shello did also show support for movements that sought to create an autonomous Assyria. Some sources state that Shello after several years of service ceased to be a commander, either leaving to care for her father or being dismissed from the command of her unit due to her enthusiasm for further leadership. Death Shello was killed on 26 December 1969. There are several contradictory accounts concerning the manner of her death. Generally speaking, Assyrians tend to believe that she was killed for calling for the recognition of the rights of the Assyrians at a meeting of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Kurds on the other hand tend to believe that Shello was killed because she was sexually involved with a high-ranking KDP official, perhaps Barzani himself, and that her death was thus an honor crime. Rumors spread by the enemies of the Peshmerga that Shello was Barzani's mistress at the very least damaged his reputation. Other attributed causes of death include being executed by Barzani after demanding a higher leadership position, killed by a spurned lover, and being assassinated by either the Iraqi government or a rival Kurdish faction. Shello's funeral ceremony was held in her home village of Dūra. She was buried as a hero and the funeral was among others attended by Y.C. and I.I., anonymous leaders of the Kheith Kheith Allap II movement (one of the at the time prominent groups working for Assyrian autonomy). The Kheith Kheith Allap II leaders claimed that Shelllo had been imprisoned together with her mother by the Kurdistan Democratic Party and shot with fifty bullets in her prison cell while asleep. The attendees of Shello's funeral fired volleys of shots into the air in her honor. Legacy Shello is one of the most famous Peshmerga commanders and one of the most famous modern women from Iraqi Kurdistan. Members of the Kurdish national movement proudly pointed to Shello as proof of the equal position of the Kurdish women, though they usually omitted that she was