Pakistan’s Jaish-e-Mohammed Launches Online ‘Jihadi’ Course for Women

Islamabad: Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has launched an online radicalisation and indoctrination course aimed at women, signalling a major expansion of its female recruitment operations.

The programme, titled “Tufat al-Muminat” (Gift to the Believers), is set to begin on November 8 and is being led by the sisters of JeM chief Masood Azhar, the mastermind behind several terror attacks in India, including the 2019 Pulwama bombing.

According to sources, women enrolling in the course must pay 500 Pakistani Rupees (156 INR). The programme includes daily 40-minute lectures, conducted online by Masood Azhar’s sisters Sadiya Azhar and Samaira Azhar.

Participants are required to fill out a detailed online information form before admission. The virtual nature of the course allows the group to reach women across Pakistan, including those restricted by conservative social norms that discourage them from leaving home without male supervision.

The initiative is being spearheaded by Sadiya Azhar, Masood Azhar’s younger sister, who heads JeM’s female wing, Jamat ul-Muminat. Family members of senior JeM commanders are reportedly involved in both teaching and recruiting participants for the programme.

This is part of a broader strategy by JeM to institutionalise women’s roles within the group’s propaganda and logistics network.

The course’s launch follows a series of moves by JeM to formalise its women’s division. On October 8, Masood Azhar publicly announced the creation of Jamat ul-Muminat, calling on women to play an “active role” in the organisation’s “mission”.

Less than two weeks later, on October 19, the group organised an event titled ‘Dukhtaran-e-Islam’ (Daughters of Islam) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, designed to mobilise women into joining the terror outfit’s cause.

JeM, which remains banned under UN sanctions, continues to operate with impunity from Pakistani soil despite Islamabad’s claims of cracking down on terror outfits.

The launch of this women-focused course further underscores the group’s ability to adapt and expand, even as Pakistan faces international pressure to curb extremist activity within its borders.

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