Jammu, Oct 22: In a worrying development, intelligence sources have revealed that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation designated by the United Nations, is establishing a women’s unit called Jamat ul-Muminat and has launched an online training and recruitment course named Tufat al-Muminat.
According to new documents obtained by sources, the online program aims to collect funds and recruit women to the group. The course is scheduled to begin on November 8 and will feature daily lectures of 40 minutes, conducted by women family members of Jaish leadership, including relatives of the group’s founder, Masood Azhar, and his commanders.
The online sessions will teach participants about their perceived ‘duties’ related to jihad and Islam, while encouraging them to join the newly-formed Jamat ul-Muminat. Sadiya Azhar, Masood Azhar’s younger sister, has been appointed in charge of the women’s unit, and she, along with her elder sister Samaira Azhar, will lead the online lectures.
Sources said Sadiya’s husband, Yusuf Azhar, was among several family members of Masood Azhar killed in Operation Sindoor, an Indian airstrike on the Jaish headquarters in Bahawalpur in May. The operation was a retaliation for the April terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Other women included in the initiative include Afreer Farooq, wife of Umar Farooq, one of the Pahalgam attackers.
Alongside recruitment, the JeM is also intensifying its fundraising drive. Sources indicate that the organisation is now collecting 500 PKR (around 156 INR) from every woman enrolling in the online course, with participants required to submit an online information form. Officials highlighted that the online model is designed to circumvent restrictive extremist social norms in Pakistan that discourage women from going out alone.
Experts have pointed out that the fee collection underlines Pakistan’s failure to fully implement Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regulations, which aim to curb funding of extremist groups.
The announcement of the Jamat ul-Muminat came on October 8, followed by an event in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on October 19, called ‘Dukhtaran-e-Islam’, aimed at mobilising women for the unit. Analysts warn that this move reflects the expansion of JeM’s recruitment strategies, including leveraging family networks and online platforms, to widen its operational base.
Security agencies in India and abroad are reportedly monitoring the developments closely, given the potential for radicalisation and the unit’s ties to previous terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
This marks one of the first instances of a dedicated women’s wing being actively integrated into JeM’s operational and fundraising structure, highlighting a new dimension in the evolving strategies of Pakistan-based terrorist organisations.
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