Explained: Why Jaish-e-Mohammed is launching a women’s wing

Women join Jaish’s jihad network

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, has reportedly launched a new women’s unit called Jamat ul-Muminat. According to NDTV, the group is also offering an online training course titled Tufat al-Muminat, aimed at collecting funds and recruiting female members into its expanding militant network.

A new wing with old faces

People familiar with the development told NDTV that women related to senior Jaish leaders — including the sisters of JeM founder Masood Azhar, a UN-designated terrorist — will lead the sessions, instructing others on their “duties” in relation to jihad and Islam.

The initiative, launched on October 8 at Markaz Usman-o-Ali in Bahawalpur, marks JeM’s first attempt to formally recruit women into its ranks. Less than two weeks later, on October 19, the group organised another event titled Dukhtaran-e-Islam in Rawalkot, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, to mobilise women and raise awareness about the new wing.

Online drive fuels recruitment and funding

According to sources cited by NDTV, the Tufat al-Muminat online course is designed to “indoctrinate and recruit” women through daily lessons focusing on religion and jihad. With women’s mobility restricted in Pakistan’s conservative social setting, the group is turning to digital platforms to bypass social barriers and security monitoring.

The course is set to begin on November 8, featuring 40-minute daily sessions led by Azhar’s relatives and senior commanders. Each participant must pay a 500 Pakistani rupee (approximately INR 156) “donation” and complete an online enrolment form.

Officials told NDTV that this small fee also indicates how banned Pakistan-based terror outfits continue to generate funds under new names despite the government’s claim of complying with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines.

Masood Azhar’s sisters among the ‘teachers’

JeM chief Masood Azhar has reportedly appointed his younger sister, Sadiya Azhar, to lead the women’s wing. Her husband, senior JeM commander Yusuf Azhar, was killed earlier this year during India’s Operation Sindoor, an offensive that targeted Jaish’s Bahawalpur headquarters following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to reports, leadership of Jamat ul-Muminat also includes Azhar’s other sister Safia, and Afreera Farooq, wife of Umar Farooq, a key conspirator in the 2019 Pulwama attack, who was later killed in an encounter with Indian forces.

Why JeM is recruiting women

Officials monitoring JeM’s network told NDTV that the group is targeting wives of commanders and financially vulnerable women studying at its religious centres in Bahawalpur, Karachi, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Haripur, and Mansehra.

A senior counter-terror official said, “After Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam attack, JeM’s leadership realised that female members could be used to evade security scrutiny and carry out logistics or propaganda operations. This course is part of that strategy.”

Traditionally, JeM, a Deobandi-rooted organisation, had barred women from engaging in armed jihad. But intelligence reports suggest that Masood Azhar and his brother Talha al-Saif have now approved their inclusion in the operational setup.

A strategic shift inspired by global groups

This development signals a major strategic shift within JeM. By involving women, the group appears to be following the model of organisations such as ISIS, Boko Haram, Hamas, and the LTTE, which have all used female combatants or suicide bombers to advance their missions while drawing less suspicion from authorities.

For India’s counter-terror agencies, the move underscores a worrying evolution — one that blends ideology, digital outreach, and gender-based recruitment to sustain Pakistan’s most notorious terror network.