Jaish-e-Mohammed forms first-ever women’s wing ‘Jamaat-ul-Mominaat’; to be led by Masood Azhar’s sister

Pakistan-based terror organization Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has announced the formation of its first-ever women’s wing, named “Jamaat-ul-Mominaat.” According to sources, this women brigade of JeM will be led by Sadiya Azhar, the sister of Masood Azhar whose husband Yusuf Azhar was killed in Operation Sindoor on May 7, when Indian forces struck JeM’s headquarters at Markaz Subhanallah.

The decision was made public through a letter issued under the name of JeM chief and UN-designated terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar. Recruitment for this newly created unit has commenced at Markaz Usman-o-Ali in Bahawalpur, Pakistan since 8 October.

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Sources reveal that the outfit has started enlisting wives of its commanders as well as economically vulnerable women studying at its centers in Bahawalpur, Karachi, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Haripur, and Mansehra.

The Deobandi-rooted outfit, which has traditionally barred women from participating in armed jihad or combat missions, appears to have revised its stance following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Sources suggest that Masood Azhar and his brother Talha al-Saif jointly approved the decision to incorporate women into JeM’s operational framework, leading to the establishment of this exclusive female brigade.

While terrorist groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram, Hamas, and LTTE have a history of deploying women as suicide attackers, outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen had largely avoided doing so, but sources now believe JeM’s latest move signals its intent to train and use female suicide bombers in future terror operations.

Post Op Sindoor, major transformation is being seen in the terror modules across the border. While there were reports of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), and UN-designated terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) relocating their bases from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) to Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), new reports also indicated a covert alliance being formed between LeT and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The intelligence reports indicated Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) being the orchestrator of the new coalition.